A Tampa-based company is working on plans for a grocery-anchored retail center in Southside whose initial design raises the possibility of a lease with Sprouts Farmers Market.
It would be the first Sprouts Farmers Market in Jacksonville, although the developer and the supermarket company don’t confirm the site would be for the organic and natural foods store.
Wagner Property Group earned a Mobility Fee Calculation Certificate for a 37,900-square-foot project on 4.56 acres at southwest University Boulevard and St. Augustine Road.
The project comprises a 29,900-square-foot grocery store and an 8,000-square-foot retail building.
The site address is shown as 2890-2944 University Blvd. W., comprising eight property parcels. It is across University Boulevard from a Publix Super Markets Inc. store.
The sites now comprise office, shopping center, restaurant and other uses.
Wagner Property Group Project Manager Bill Pittsley said Monday that no grocery store has been signed and the project could change.
Asked whether Sprouts could be the grocery tenant, Pittsley said he didn’t believe it had an interest at this time.
He emphasized that Wagner Property Group was working on the preapplication for the site to see if what it is proposing is permissible.
A preliminary site plan states the plan is conceptual only.
Spokesman Diego Romero at Phoenix-based Sprouts said Monday the company has not announced plans to expand to Jacksonville.
Sprouts is expanding into Florida next year, starting in Tampa. The company announced last week it would open a 27,000-square-foot store Feb. 22 in the Carrollwood Commons Shopping Center in the Tampa area. It will hire 100 full- and part-time employees.
Tampabay.com reported Sprouts would open a 32,500-square-foot store at Palm Harbor Commons, near Tampa, and that other spots could be in Brandon and South Tampa.
Sprouts opens stores from 28,000 to 30,000 square feet and wants locations with a population of more than 100,000 within a 10-minute drive.
The store on the Wagner site plan is in that range and the location is in a densely populated area of town within minutes of San Marco, Beauclerc, Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club, San Jose, Baymeadows and other established neighborhoods.
While Sprouts has not confirmed Jacksonville, its growth plans indicate Northeast Florida would likely be of interest.
Founded in 2002, Sprouts has expanded to more than 250 stores in 13 states and projects the U.S. market could support about 1,200 of its stores.
In September, it announced eight locations would open in the first quarter in six states, including the first Florida store in Carrollwood.
Sprouts also said it wanted to open 36 stores next year in 15 states.
It has been looking at the Jacksonville market for several years.
In January 2014, a Regency Centers Corp. executive told an International Council of Shopping Centers North Florida group that Sprouts might be coming to the market.
In March 2014, Jacksonville-based retail developer Ben Hakimian said a Sprouts representative, scouting sites, had visited his Shoppes of San Jose retail center at University Boulevard West and St. Augustine Road.
He said then the company decided to concentrate on other cities and would revisit Jacksonville in six to 12 months.
Hakimian owns the almost 57,000-square-foot Shoppes of San Jose at 2777 University Blvd. W., next to Publix. He said Monday the center is 100 percent leased.
“The market is very, very strong,” he said.
Loop Pizza Grill to lease at Sadler Point Marina
Sadler Point Marina’s first signed tenant is Loop Pizza Grill, which is expected to open in early spring.
Loop owners learned in the spring they would have to find a new location for the Avondale restaurant at 4000 St. Johns Ave. and landed about 2 miles south at the marina at 4619 Roosevelt Blvd.
The Loop will lease 3,100 square feet in the 18,000-square-foot building, according to Sadler Point Marina owner Brooks Busey in a news release.
He owns the marina with his family.
Busey renovated the former Pier 17 Marine building into a multiuse space for lease. He envisioned the building, which is in the marina at the Ortega River, for use by restaurants, retailers and community groups.
It is called Sadler Point Marine Center.
Loop co-founders Mike Schneider and Terry Schneider said the Sadler Point development is a perfect fit for the Loop. The restaurant’s design will draw from the St. Johns Town Center prototype but will be updated and modified.
It will seat 116 guests inside and offer some patio seating.
The Loop’s Avondale location also is on the waterfront of Fishweir Creek and Little Fishweir Creek, but the St. Johns Village site is being redeveloped as apartments.
The Loop operated there almost three decades. It is scheduled to close Dec. 11, according to the release.
Outback Steakhouse closes Regency location
Outback Steakhouse said over the weekend it closed its restaurant at the Regency Park Shopping Center at 9400 Atlantic Blvd.
Spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts said by email that its last day of business was Nov. 9.
“The decision was made based solely on business circumstances,” she said.
Watts said the majority of the about 50 employees transferred to its other Jacksonville area restaurants and all received severance to assist with the transition.
She said the Regency Park location opened in 1991.
The Outback Steakhouse signs are down at Regency Park although the outline clearly identifies the name.
A sign on the door of the closed Outback says: “With apologies we are now permanently Closed as of 11/10/2016.”
It invites customers to visit the locations at Queen’s Harbour, 13245 Atlantic Blvd.; Baymeadows, 8145 Point Meadows Way; and North Jacksonville, 795 Skymarks Drive in River City Marketplace.
Outback also operates restaurants at 9773 San Jose Blvd; at 3760 S. Third St. in Jacksonville Beach; and in Orange Park and St. Augustine.
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