Walmart, already with 15 area Supercenters, appears a step closer to adding one in Southwest Jacksonville and groundbreaking could be in store during the second quarter of 2014.
Gatlin Development Co. of Fort Lauderdale has applied to the St. Johns River Water Management District to modify an existing permit to accommodate the proposed 43-acre Collins Crossing retail center at northwest Collins Road and the Interstate 295 West Beltway.
Gatlin proposes to develop the center, shown on plans as a 186,933-square-foot Walmart Supercenter along with restaurants, shops and a gas station, shown on some plans as a Gate store.
Plans show the Walmart, three flex-retail buildings totaling 29,700 square feet and two outparcels of about 2 acres each.
Gatlin General Counsel Chad Williard said by email that Gatlin, as the contract purchaser, is working toward obtaining the required entitlements for the project and anticipates those approvals by the first quarter.
After approvals, Gatlin expects to buy the land.
The property owner is Olsen Farms LLC; the consultant, engineer, surveyor and landscape architect is CPH Inc.; and the agent is Onsite Environmental Consulting LLC.
A City Council committee has been reviewing a proposed ordinance, 2013-469, which calls for rezoning the 43.73 acres along Collins Road between I-295 and Rampart Road to permit commercial uses.
Williard expects council could complete its reviews next month.
As described, Gatlin Development proposes a development comprising Walmart on 16.26 acres along with a gas station and car wash, three flexible-use buildings, a 7,939-square-foot
restaurant and a 3,240-square-foot fast-food restaurant.
The site plan shows the three flexible-use buildings at 11,000 square feet on 1.16 acres, 9,600 square feet on 1.15 acres and 9,100 square feet on 1.01 acres.
Gatlin features the project on its website, gatlindc.com.
A written description for the rezoning, filed by lawyer Karl Sanders on behalf of the landowners, proposes to rezone seven parcels, totaling the 43.73 acres.
It says that in 2008, the front 13 acres were rezoned as a Planned Unit Development for a mix of commercial retail, office and hotel uses.
The current application requests rezoning of the remaining 30 acres to a Planned Unit Development to allow for up to 300,000 square feet of commercial retail and service establishments.
The site has been used for silviculture and agriculture activities, according to the description.
The description says the development will take place on 26 acres, leaving a significant part of the site undisturbed, "providing large buffers from the residential properties to the west and north of the site."
The property is owned by Park City Farms LLC and Olsen Farms LLC, whose manager is real-estate company Thomas Dumas Inc.
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