News

Publix could be catalyst for southside renaissance

By Bill Moss, Published: February 15, 2015

Publix, the Florida supermarket juggernaut, may stimulate the next retail renaissance to the city's southern gateway.

Last week, when the Hendersonville City Council took action on a minor property ownership question, the discussion confirmed for the first time what many real estate agents had long talked about and more than a few grocery shoppers had hoped for: Publix, long the king of higher end food shopping in Florida, was looking to open a store in Hendersonville.
"I think it's a very positive thing," said Mayor Pro Tem Ron Stephens. "They are an excellent operator. There are others and we have some that are here now but it's been my experience that when they came to town it really woke up all the others. They sharp their tools a little bit because they run such a good shop."
Given the desirable demographics of the Flat Rock and Kanuga area, it's unsurprising that the marketing strategists are working to site a store where it can intercept northbound shoppers before they reach Fresh Market, Harris Teeter and Ingles, all less than a quarter mile away.
If the development plans come to fruition, Publix would plunge into the grocery wars in an area of town already densely occupied by those competitors and others. In 2009 Harris-Teeter moved across the road into its new store on Spartanburg Highway. Holding a place with its old store on Spartanburg Highway, Ingles has filed plans with the city for a 77,000-square-foot super store to replace the older one. The newly remodeled and expanded Fresh Market is a stone's throw away to the north of the potential Publix site and the Hendersonville Community Co-Op will open its new store this year less than a mile east on Spartanburg Highway at South Grove Street. All told, a new Publix would be the 15th supermarket in Henderson County.
"I think it's reflective of the quality of people we have here and the people that are moving here," Stephens said of the food store boom. "These are high end stores. They're selling pretty sophisticated food and access to it."

Tiny city parcel plays big role

A piece of city-owned land less than a tenth of an acre could determine the future of the development. City Attorney Sam Fritschner told the City Council that the parcel is "integral" to the proposed Publix shopping center.
Attorneys for a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company asked the Hendersonville City Council to sell it a small piece of floodplain land along Mud Creek behind El Paso restaurant for the project. The developer, Halvorsen Suburban Holdings, has also built shopping centers for Publix Super Markets in Florida and more recently in the Charlotte area.
"The city never knew until a couple of months ago that it even had an interest in the property," Fritschner said. "The developer thought we would be willing to sell it to them since they thought they owned it anyway.... Mr. (Larry) Baber believes himself to be the current owner and in a perfect world he probably would be the owner."
Fritschner recommended that the council offer to sell the property for $1,000, subject to an upset bid as required under state law. That led council members into a discussion of what would happen if a competitor or some other agent submitted an upset bid with the intent of blocking the Publix development.
"What's to stop someone from offering $5,000 for it if this is integral for the completion of the project?" Councilman Jeff Miller asked. "Can the city give a piece of property to them, because it's really a strategic matter."
No, was the short answer. Without directly spelling out the options the city might be able to pursue, Fritschner assured council members that he had been in many conversations with the developer's lawyers, who he said are urgently trying to move the project ahead.
"This is the best method I could come up with," he said. "We can't just give it to them ... in the timeframe they're asking for. This is a request by them. They're the ones who asked for it. They understand the risk (of the upset bid process). I've had conversations with their lawyer."

Traffic is biggest challenge

The property on Greenville Highway and White Street is owned by Atha Plaza, Annette and Larry Baber, Scott and Carol Ann Surrette (Larry Baber's daughter and son-in-law); Gerald W. Rhodes of Saluda (the El Paso property); and Pro-Source Land Holdings of Greenville, S.C., Henderson County tax records show. The 13,000-square-foot Atha Plaza, built in 1960, is assessed for tax purposes at $629,000.
The property is under option to Halvorsen, the developer, Baber said, and would transfer to Publix once legal details, including the ownership of the city parcel, are worked out. If the bulldozers crank up at the corner of White Street, more heavy equipment won't be far behind, Stephens predicted.
"I think it's going to encourage development," he said. "I think that you'll see some movement, maybe to the old house (across from Chadwick Square) and the trailer park back there. It may move the property where Publix tried to go first."
Stephens said word reached City Hall that the supermarket chain was looking at the vacant lot across from Food Lion but could not assemble a parcel large enough above the floodplain.
Stephens acknowledged that the developer, the city and NCDOT face some challenges when it comes to moving cars in and out of a shopping center.
"I think this is a very positive thing and it's going to mean a lot of pluses and some challenges," he said. "You've hit on the biggest one, with the traffic. We need to get to the bottom of it and do what we can."