Two weeks after the City approved construction of what appears to be the first Walmart Neighborhood Market in Duval County, it OK'd construction Friday for a second.
The City approved construction Friday of the Walmart Neighborhood Market that will take the space of a former Food Lion store in the Crossroads at Mandarin center at 10550 Old St. Augustine Road.
James C. Hudson Jr. Construction Co., based in Chattanooga, Tenn., will handle the tenant build-out for the space at a cost of $1.55 million.
The City earlier approved a permit for J. Raymond Construction, based in Longwood, to renovate the former Food Lion supermarket at Merrill Station in Arlington for a Walmart Neighborhood Market. It is a $1.59 million project.
In October, the Daily Record reported that two Walmart Neighborhood Market stores, which are Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s smaller grocery-store formats, were closer to construction. The developer had bought both shopping centers, anchored by former Food Lions, and the permit applications were submitted.
In Arlington, the Walmart Neighborhood Market is planned in the 39,665-square-foot grocery store in Merrill Station. In Mandarin, the market is planned in a 38,640-square-foot store in Crossroads at Mandarin.
The permit applications say the projects are interior remodels for new grocery stores to take over previous grocery spaces.
Developer Gatlin Development Co. Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, through GDC Jax 3 LLC, bought the shopping centers Sept. 7 for a total of $8.8 million and took out a mortgage Sept. 11 for $17.6 million from Ladder Capital Finance LLC.
GDC Jax 3 LLC paid $3.6 million for Merrill Station and $5.2 million for Crossroads.
Meanwhile, a third Duval County Food Lion at San Pablo Road and Atlantic Boulevard also has been shown on plans as a Walmart Neighborhood Market but was not sold to Gatlin. The San Pablo store is shown as 49,433 square feet and plans indicate Wal-Mart Stores East L.P. as the developer.
CPH Engineers Inc. is shown as the engineer for all three market locations.
Sources have said Wal-Mart plans five to nine Neighborhood Markets in Northeast Florida. The stores typically are 42,000 square feet in size, a quarter of the size of the average 185,000-square-foot Supercenter, according to Wal-Mart.
Greencore construction approved
Ireland-based Greencore Group earned the green light Friday from the City for contractor Richard Claude Haskew to add three work areas, at a cost of $300,000, within Greencore's 42,000 square feet of space in North Jacksonville.
Greencore Group makes convenience foods and bought the H.C. Schau & Son Inc. facility in June.
The facility, at 13949 Alvarez Road in the Jacksonville International Tradeport, produces fresh sandwiches and sushi as well as fresh entrees and other ready-to-eat items sold through retail and convenience store chains, according to the Greencore.com site.
Greencore acquired the operation when it bought Schau & Son, the Chicago-based maker and distributor of fresh foods whose two facilities are in Woodridge, Ill., and Jacksonville.
According to the website, the primary offerings at the Jacksonville facility include fresh sandwiches and salads and other deli items; fresh ready meal solutions; fully cooked, extended shelf life Okami brand sushi; and wholesale meat distribution of Nueske's meats.
Plans show functions at the facility include a fish cooler, rice storage, rice cooking, packaging and production, a holding cooler and a holding freezer as well as a locker room, lounge, offices and other space.
Plans indicate future functions could include the cooking, chilling, packing and shipping of chicken.
Greencore Group, based in Dublin, describes itself as a leading manufacturer of convenience foods in the United Kingdom and the United States. It employs more than 11,000 people and operates 28 sites in the U.S., United Kingdom and Ireland, making 4,000 products across 20 categories.
Greencore USA is described as a "fast-growing food-to-go business serving both the convenience and small store channel and the grocery channel."
Greencore bought Marketfare Foods in April. It said the subsequent Schau purchase "will build on the acquisition of Marketfare Foods … by adding scale with 7-Eleven, to whom Schau is a long-term supplier in the Chicago region."
"In addition, Greencore has put in place a multiyear partnership with the new customer to supply its stores with approximately $50 million of Food to Go products on the East Coast and in the Midwest from four of Greencore's facilities," it said.
It said the new business would be phased in between September 2012 and March 2013.
Greencore lists six U.S. sites: Jacksonville; Chicago; Newburyport and Brockton, Mass.; Fredericksburg, Va.; and Salt Lake City.
"Schau, along with Marketfare, will allow us to take a strong step forward in executing the next stage of our U.S. strategy," Greencore CEO Patrick Coveney said in a news release.
"Greencore now has a Food to Go platform in the U.S. that will not only enable us to better serve our existing customers, but also to support what is a significant and exciting new business opportunity," he said.
220 Riverside on the way up
220 Riverside Doster Construction Co. Inc. received City approval Friday to build the 220 Riverside mixed-use apartment-retail project, with a garage integrated into the structure, at 220 Riverside Ave. The project carries a construction cost of $28.66 million.
The seven-story building will comprise 294 apartments, retail use and the parking garage. Hallmark Partners is listed as the project owner. Doster has begun work on putting in the foundation, a $4.7 million project.
NAI Hallmark Partners, Bristol Development and MAA are developing the multifamily rental community around an elevated central courtyard. It will include 18,000 square feet of retail space, a community area and other amenities. It should be completed in the summer of 2014.
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