Aldi was cleared to build-out a store in Regency, one of 10 operating or proposed locations in Northeast Florida for the Germany-based discount grocer.
The city approved a permit Monday for Bay to Bay Properties LLC of Safety Harbor to renovate almost 20,300 square feet at 9317 Atlantic Blvd. for Aldi at a construction cost of $1.1 million.
The store will be in a former Bed Bath & Beyond in the CB Square shopping center.
Aldi will take almost 26,000 square feet in the space, according to a site plan for CB Square by The Shopping Center Group.
Nancy Sumner of The Shopping Center Group LLC, the firm that represents Aldi’s landlord at CB Square, said previously there was a void of grocers servicing the Regency area other than Wal-Mart.
Aldi is at least doubling the five locations it operates in Northeast Florida.
Its first stores along Southside Boulevard and in Clay and St. Johns counties were joined by new construction in West Jacksonville and in Town Center Promenade. Those stores are open.
The next five, including at Regency, are planned along San Jose Boulevard, in Oakleaf and in Nassau and Clay counties.
That gives Aldi sites in many neighborhoods around the area, with more expected.
Area real estate director Jason Povlick said in late August that several Aldi stores would open in the Jacksonville market over the next several years, but he did not want to be specific.
Newer Aldi stores feature the chain’s “new look” modern design with natural lighting, an environmental focus, new shelving and floor tiling, wall graphics, more fresh produce, larger bakery and dairy sections and other enhancements.
In February, Aldi announced it is spending $1.6 billion to implement the new design in 1,300 of its U.S. stores by 2020. Aldi said in a news release that it was embarking on the remodeling program while continuing its plans to open new stores