Regency Centers is ready to update East San Marco.
Yes, really.
The Publix Super Markets Inc.-anchored shopping center, first surfacing in 2002, will be the topic of a town hall meeting Thursday.
“We’re all set to show what we’ve been working on with Publix and the local stakeholders, and we hope everyone can make it out to see what we plan on bringing to the San Marco area,” said Eric Davidson, Regency Centers senior manager of communications.
The San Marco Preservation Society will host the event at 6 p.m. Thursday at Southside Baptist Church at 1435 Atlantic Blvd.
East San Marco is proposed on vacant land at 1532 Atlantic Blvd. Signs at the site, at Hendricks and Atlantic boulevards, continue to show the project.
Although East San Marco has been planned for 17 years, the recession and other issues delayed the project. Two years ago, an apartment partner pulled out of the deal as it was about to be completed.
The city had approved the project.
“Come hear the latest news about Publix and get a sneak peek at what the corner of Hendricks Ave. and Atlantic Blvd. might look like in the near future,” says a Facebook posting for the event.
It’s free and open to the public. Regency Centers representatives and the design team will attend to answer questions.
Last year, property owner Regency Centers Corp. Chairman and CEO Martin E. “Hap” Stein Jr. said the project would continue, but just with the shopping center.
Before the May 7 annual meeting this year of the Jacksonville-based company’s annual shareholders meeting, he said Regency wanted to report a project within six months and “have something out of the ground hopefully by the beginning of next year is our plan.”
East San Marco will include “a high-quality grocery store” and about a dozen shops, he said.
Stein said previously that Regency Centers will develop, own and manage an estimated 50,000 square feet of retail space comprising the 30,000-square-foot Publix and about 20,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
As it has for more than a decade, Publix says it is committed to the site.