The area’s sixth Walmart Neighborhood Market should open next spring at the Village Shoppes at San Pablo in the Intracoastal West area of Jacksonville.
The grocery-store concept of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. already has five stores in Northeast Florida. This one is the farthest east at southwest Atlantic Boulevard and San Pablo Road.
The Village Shoppes at San Pablo comprises more than 84,000 square feet of retail space.
The Rosen Group of Boca Raton owns two buildings there, including the former Food Lion where the Walmart Neighborhood Market will open.
Rosen Group President Joseph Maguire said Thursday he estimates the store will open at the end of the first quarter or start of the second quarter next year.
“They do a great job and we think it’s something the community will really like,” he said.
Maguire said Walmart Neighborhood Market will lease 49,433 square feet of space. Rosen Group owns about 70,000 square feet of space at the Village Shoppes, property records show. The address is 1650 San Pablo Road S.
The other five area Neighborhood Markets also are in former Food Lion stores at Wilson Square in Westside; Merrill Station in Arlington; the Crossroads at Mandarin in Mandarin; Julington Square along Florida 13 in St. Johns County; and along County Road 220 in Middleburg in Clay County. Those shopping centers are owned by Gatlin Development Co. Inc. of Fort Lauderdale.
Neighborhood Markets are Walmart grocery stores. At an average 38,000 square feet in size, they offer groceries, pharmacy services and household goods, but are much smaller than the average 182,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenters.
The first three Northeast Florida Neighborhood Markets opened in June 2013.
The San Pablo market adds another grocery choice to the Intracoastal West market.
The Village Shoppes at San Pablo is across Atlantic Boulevard from Harbour Village, which is anchored by The Fresh Market.
It is not far from Harbour Place, which is anchored by Publix Super Markets Inc., at Atlantic and Hodges boulevards. Winn-Dixie has a store farther west at Atlantic and Girvin Road.
Walmart has been considering the San Pablo location for a Neighborhood Market for at least two years. Plans surfaced in August 2012 for a market there, but Maguire said at the time no deal had been done.
“Commercial real estate deals take time to get them right,” Maguire said.
In early 2012, Food Lion closed its Florida stores. There were 20 in Northeast Florida, including a dozen in Duval County.
Atlantic San Pablo LLC owns the remaining 14,300-square-foot building, whose address is 13474 Atlantic Blvd., at the Village Shoppes at San Pablo. Colliers International is marketing space there for lease.
Atlantic San Pablo is owned by Ronald and Matthew Rettner of Yonkers N.Y.
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