Gate Petroleum Co. bought 4.9 acres in May near the busy and popular St. Johns Town Center in South Jacksonville, developing a convenience store on part of it and marketing the remainder for sale.
Jacksonville-based Gate bought the property at Town Center Parkway and St. Johns Bluff Road in May for $4.72 million.
It is developing a convenience store and gas station on 3.17 acres on the west side of what had been called the St. Johns Bluff Road extension, now a private road, and is marketing the remaining 1.76 acres on the east side.
Real Estate Manager Becky Hamilton said Gate bought the site so it could have some control over who developed next to its new Gate store.
Hamilton said Tuesday that Gate is asking $2.4 million for the site.
Hamilton said Gate has received several offers but hasn't accepted any yet. The property is zoned Community Commercial/General-1, which allows for a wide range of retail operations. She said there's been interest by retail and restaurant developers.
Gate has filed an application with the St. Johns River Water Management District that detailed the proposed project.
It describes construction of a 13,070-square-foot commercial building with a parking lot, underground utilities, a dry retention stormwater management facility and associated control structure and piping.
Hamilton said Gate was seeking the permits to allow for flexibility and to entitle the parcel for the eventual buyer. "We wanted to go ahead and get it permitted," she said.
Meanwhile, the city has approved construction of the foundation for the Gate Food Store, being built by Auld & White Constructors LLC at 4123 Town Center Parkway.
Gate plans a 6,600-square-foot convenience store, 24-pump self-serve gas station and car wash on the 3.17 acres.
England, Thims & Miller Inc. is the project engineer and also is shown on the Water Management District plans. Access Ecological Associates Inc. is the consultant listed on the district application.
The food store is the newest among Gate's Duval County projects. Construction is expected to start in December on the Emerson Street store.
There are 40 Gate stores in Northeast Florida, including 28 in Duval County.
Gate has 72 stores in five states: Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Kentucky.
2 more Body Central permits OK'd
Construction permits were issued for Jacksonville-based Body Central Corp. to renovate space at One Imeson Center in North Jacksonville for its corporate headquarters and distribution center.
The city has approved three permits for the work. The tenant work alone adds up to $4.53 million for the almost 400,000-square-foot build-out at One Imeson.
Body Central will move from a 179,000-square-foot building, of which 146,000 square feet is warehouse space, at 6225 Powers Ave.
Renovations are planned for headquarters offices, lobby upgrades and tenant work for a two-story distribution center.
In January, City Council approved $1.39 million in city and state incentives for Body Central to relocate and expand its headquarters to One Imeson, a former Sears catalog center that consists of almost 2 million square feet of office-warehouse space.
Retail note
Nutrishop will open at 13546 Beach Blvd., No. 6. The city approved permits for five signs for Nutrishop Vitamins – Sports Nutrition – Weight Loss at a project cost of $11,200. The nutrishop.com site says the location is coming soon and that the company is "rapidly approaching 200 locations nationwide with current exposure in 26 states and with new stores opening every month."
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466