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Publix may clear hurdle on parcel needed for store

The city of Hendersonville would eventually see thousands of dollars worth of property tax and sales tax revenue if a new Publix goes up on Greenville Highway at White Street.

Thursday night the City Council was expected to accept a $1,000 down payment on future revenue if it votes as expected to sell a tiny piece of land the shopping center developer needs for the project.

The parcel was mistakenly transferred to the city several years ago, City Attorney Sam Fritschner said. To free up the land for development, the City Council last month offered to sell the .07-acre piece of land to developer Halvorsen Suburban Centers for $1,000. Under state law governing the sale of taxpayer-owned property, the council had to make the offer public and subject the offer to an upset bid. No other bids came in by the Feb. 23 deadline. The council is expected to take action to transfer ownership of the parcel to Halvorsen on Thursday night.
Attorneys for Halvorsen, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company that has built shopping centers for Publix in Florida and North Carolina, had been negotiating with Fritschner to buy the floodplain land along Mud Creek behind El Paso restaurant.
The new shopping center would displace the 55-year-old Atha Plaza, the Blue Ridge Bedding store, Pro-Source, a smaller retail building and El Paso restaurant.