With the permit issued Nov. 15, Lotte Plaza Market was approved to renovate the closed Best Buy store at 9355 Atlantic Blvd. in the Regency area of Jacksonville at a cost of $8.99 million.
The store is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025, or after, following its conversion into a Korean- and Asian-focused grocery store.
President Alvin Lee said by email July 15 that his group was scheduled to start construction earlier this year for a fall or winter opening but changes in the city permitting system resulted in a delay.
“We believe we are near the finish line and the contractors are ready to go once the permits are issued,” he said.
“It looks like a 1st quarter 2025 opening. We will do our best to open as quickly as we can.”
Hawkins Construction Co. of Tarpon Springs is the contractor who will renovate the 45,799-square-foot store for the Lotte Plaza Market.
The markets offer meats, seafood, produce and specialty products, including packaged teas, sauces and fresh fruits and vegetables. They also have food courts and bakeries.
It would be the Maryland-based company’s third Florida store. It opened in Orlando in 2019 and in Tampa in November 2023.
The company has 16 stores in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Florida with a goal of opening 50 Lotte Plaza Market locations by 2030.
Its Lotteplaza.com website shows seven locations in Virginia, six locations in Maryland, two in Florida and one in New Jersey.
At the new Richmond, Virginia, store May 12, Lee said the next opening would be in Jacksonville and then Miami.
The stores carry Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Philippine, Thai and Indian products, among other foods.
The Richmond store has a French-Asian bakery and an Asian food court with Korean, Japanese and other tastes.
Lee said by email July 15 that Lotte Plaza Market chose Jacksonville for its population and its difference from the rest of the state.
“A large, diverse population and a dynamic, growing environment are some of the things that attracted us to Jacksonville,” he said.
“Different in many ways from central Florida and south Florida, we believe Jacksonville has a unique vibe and cultural heritage different from the rest of Florida. I think the City will continue to enjoy steady growth into the future and we want to be a part of that,” he said.
Lee said the interior will look like the company’s new platform stores in Tampa and Richmond.
Former Best Buy store
Lotte Plaza Market has been preparing to convert the closed Best Buy it bought in the Regency area of Arlington in January 2022.
Best Buy closed the store in March 2021. It was built in 1999.
The city has been reviewing a permit application and plans for the renovation of the Best Buy on almost 3.4 acres.
The initial plans were filed in September 2023 and revised as more were submitted.
The city issued a site-work permit Oct. 17 at a project cost of $50,000 for installation of trees, shrubs and ground covering along with modifications to the irrigation system.
Casco of St. Louis is the architect and engineer.
Plans show interior and exterior renovations.
Inside, plans show grocery, meat, seafood and produce areas and at least seven food vendor stations and a food court area.
There also is space for a bakery.
SW Jacksonville LLC, led by Maryland-based Sungwon Distributor LLC agent Sang Lee, bought the Best Buy property.
Sungwon Distributor LLC is based in Jessup, Maryland. Sung Lee is the CEO.
Colliers International Florida Executive Director Jason Ryals and Senior Associate Gina Kline in Jacksonville represented the seller in the transaction. Ryals said the purchase price was $4 million.
Ryals said SW Jacksonville’s broker was Daniel Lynch III, a partner with Atlantic Retail Properties in West Palm Beach.
Lotteplaza.com says that since 1976, Lotte Plaza Market “has strived to be the premier source for Asian groceries in Maryland and Virginia.”
“Our desire to continuously improve customer relations and contribute to the community we serve has helped us grow from a single store in 1989 to 12 locations throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Florida.” It also added New Jersey.
The site says the company was founded in 1976 and opened in Maryland in 1989.
Sang Lee registered with the state to do business in Florida.
It appears that it can take several years for the stores to open.
Lee registered SW Jacksonville LLC in December 2021; SW Tampa LLC in November 2020; and Sungwon Orlando LLC in June 2016.
The Orlando LLC was registered in 2016 and the store opened in 2019.
The Tampa name was registered in November 2020, the building purchase made in January 2021 and the store opened in 2023.
The Jacksonville name, filed in December 2021, came the month before the property was purchased, with plans filed in September 2023. Opening is expected in 2025.
Sungwon Miami LLC was registered in June 2022, indicating the fourth Florida location.
Competition
Lotte Plaza Market follows the February 2024 opening of RD International Market in a renovated 52,600-square-foot store Winn-Dixie that closed in 2017 in the Hogan area.
The store is at 7534 Beach Blvd. in the Beach Boulevard Shopping Center near the eastern access to the Hart Expressway.
The center is along Beach Boulevard at Hogan and Parental Home roads, about 5 miles southwest of the Lotte Plaza Market.
RD International, an Asian and seafood market, carries food, décor, housewares, fresh produce, refrigerated foods, frozen and fresh meats and fish and 70 live seafood tanks.
It was renovated with new flooring, shelving, freezers, refrigerators, checkout stations and carts with swivel casters that allow for easy guidance.
The market also has a food court with 12 restaurants.