Benderson Development Co. LLC continues laying the groundwork for development of its proposed 1,003-acre residential, retail and industrial development, including a Publix Super Markets Inc., store in North Jacksonville.
The city and St. Johns River Water Management District are reviewing plans for what is called the “Bacardi – Commercial” development and the Publix at northeast Interstate 95 and Pecan Park Road.
Bacardi Bottling Corp. previously owned the land, which it sold to Benderson in 2007.
Benderson, based in University Park near Sarasota, is developing the property, where Publix would anchor the commercial portion at the southern end.
Site development plans with the city show a 50,352-square-foot Publix with an adjacent Publix liquor store and with 36,180 square feet of what likely will be multitenant retail space next to that.
The Water Management District application explains the project proposes a new retail and grocery commercial development to support the existing and future residential community in the area.
WRA of Tampa is the professional engineering consultant.
Benderson owns the property through Rum East LLC and Pecan Park Rail LLC.
Benderson previously asked city utility JEA to determine the service availability for the development, which is north of Pecan Park Road between Main Street to the east and I-95 to the west. JEA issued a determination letter Feb. 13, specifying that the project is split into phases, acknowledging capacity limitations to the Main Street point of service connection.
The description of the Bacardi Master Plan, referring to the previous landowner, says full build-out will include:
The Bacardi West development comprises the industrial, retail, medical and multifamily uses. The retail and medical uses are at the southern end of the property along Pecan Park Road. The industrial buildings front I-95
The Bacardi East development comprises the single-family homes and townhouses.
The plan indicates two primary internal roads. One connects Pecan Park Road in the Bacardi West development. Another in Bacardi East connects Pecan Park Road through the residential portion, with more street connections within the housing developments.
The development site is owned by Benderson Development Co. LLC entities.
Publix gained momentum when Jacksonville City Council voted 16-0 on Nov. 12, 2025, to approve Ordinance 2025-0763, which grants a zoning exception to Publix Super Markets Inc.
The exception allows for retail sales and service of all alcoholic beverages for on-premises and off-premises consumption at Publix and a separate Publix Liquors store in the mixed-use development.
The grocery and liquor store would be built in the same plaza but in separate units, according to a Jacksonville Planning Department report on the exception.
A map shows a new road north through the property called Nexus Place. The area wraps around what is now an Amoco gas station.
The Benderson property has been in development for several years.
In 2024, Council voted to rezone the land to Planned Unit Development, with different land use categories for each pod of the property.
The PUD allows for a large mixed-use development sought to permit commercial, industrial, residential and conservation uses.
The designated land uses on the property are Conservation, Light Industrial, Community General Commercial, Medium Density Residential and Low Density Residential.
Benderson first filed with the city in November 2024 to include a grocer on the property.
The Daily Record then reported that JEA was looking at the service availability for a project that included a 53,402-square-foot grocery, along with 1.54 million square feet of industrial space and 67,725 square feet of retail space.
Benderson, a privately held real estate company, bought the majority of it in 2007 from Bacardi Bottling Corp., which operates a rum-bottling plant at 12200 N. Main St.