An application to prepare land in Yulee for construction could signal progress on a shopping center with a 175,000-square-foot retail anchor, a size similar to a Walmart Supercenter.
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an Environmental Resource Permit application for the mass grading of 25.71 acres that matches the location of a project called the Shoppes of Yulee by project applicant, the estate of Charles H. Jones.
The application is under technical review by water management district regulatory staff.
Mass grading is a preliminary site preparation process that involves moving and reshaping large amounts of land to create the desired topography for development.
Orlando-based environmental consulting firm Bio-Tech Consulting Inc. is managing the application process for the Jones estate.
The site is off Florida 200, just west of Interstate 95, near the master planned Wildlight development. It is owned by the Charles H. Jones Family Foundation Inc. of Macon, Georgia.
The Shoppes of Yulee project also includes a cleared 4.14-acre site at 462487 Buccaneer Trail, the location of a BP gas station with a Subway and Pizza Hut. That property is owned by Westgate Resorts Ltd. of Orlando.
The gas station, called Westgate Plaza and Florida Information Center, was built in 2000.
In addition to the 175,360-square-foot anchor, the site plan shows 701 parking spaces and four outparcels.
Michael Herzberg, vice president of development for Sleiman Enterprises, is the agent for the project. Jacksonville-based Gatlin Development Co. also is working on the development.
Gatlin has been a Walmart developer for almost 30 years and introduced the chain’s Neighborhood Market grocery stores to Jacksonville in Arlington, Westside, Mandarin, St. Johns County and Clay County.
The Nassau County Development Review Committee was scheduled to consider the project July 1, but no one representing the Shoppes of Yulee attended and the discussion was deferred. It has not been rescheduled.
The closest Walmart in Nassau County is about 8 miles east in Yulee. Another is in Fernandina Beach. The Walmart Supercenter in River City Marketplace in Jacksonville is 10.5 miles south on I-95.
Walmart also is building a Supercenter in Southwest Jacksonville. The city issued a building permit Feb. 26 for a roughly 175,000-square-foot store and a 4,365-square-foot liquor store in OakLeaf.
A Supercenter the same size is planned in St. Johns County off International Golf Parkway, about 3 miles west of World Commerce Center. The site is cleared, and the county is reviewing plans.
Supercenters typically include groceries, general merchandise, liquor stores and a garden center, among other departments.