Veteran grocery store owner Rob Rowe bought the closed Winn-Dixie in Baymeadows and is assessing what to do with it – open another Rowe’s IGA supermarket or keep the property for another use.
Buying it – for $3.7 million – was the first step.
“I had to get that done first,” he said. “I have to decide if it’s the best use for a store or for something else.”
One certainty, he said, is that he does not plan to sell it.
“It’s a great piece of real estate for an investment property, so I bought it for that reason. I may develop it, I may open it. I am just not sure and I have not had any real time to figure it all out,” he said.
Rowe said the opportunity arose to buy the property, at 9866 Baymeadows Road in the Deerwood area, and he had to close on the deal in 30 days.
Records show that through Rarre III LLC, Rowe bought the store and 5.7 acres Tuesday from 9866 Baymeadows LLC, led by William Hall. Rowe registered Rarre III with the state Jan. 31.
The 58,008-square-foot store was built in 1986. Winn-Dixie closed the location, near Southside Boulevard, in 2018 as it restructured under bankruptcy laws. It continues to operate a store at 10915 Baymeadows Road near Interstate 295.
Rowe operates five Rowe’s IGA stores in the Jacksonville area in west, north and south Jacksonville and in Orange Park.
He said he has drawn a plan for a 40,000-square-foot store at the Baymeadows address and is getting costs, but said it was early in the process.
