News

Publix buys land for new store

By Bill Moss, Published: July 8, 2016

Publix has completed the purchase of seven acres of land for the supermarket it plans on Greenville Highway, its first grocery store in Hendersonville.

The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocer is plunging into the local grocery war in an area that is already the most competitive battleground in all of Henderson County.
The new 49,000-square-foot market is within a few hundred yards of Fresh Market, Harris Teeter and a 72,000-square-foot Ingles now under construction. Publix, which is expected to have a pharmacy as well, also faces competition from four stand-alone drug stores and two more in-store pharmacies.
Publix North Carolina, a limited partnership the parent company formed in October 2013, closed on June 8 on six separate parcels. They included Atha Plaza and an adjoining retail building, owned by Larry and Annette Baber; ProSource, a high-end plumbing supply company; the old Tractor Shed, owned by Baber’s daughter and son-in-law; and the old El Paso property, owned by Gerald Rhodes.

“Hendersonville is still on track for a late 2017 opening,” Kim Reynolds, Publix media relations manager in North Carolina, said in an email. “Once we begin construction, the store opening time frame really varies pending weather and permitting among other factors. Our goal always is to open the store as soon as possible so that we can begin serving customers.”
Halvorsen Development, which is building the supermarket, is continuing to work on the final regulatory approvals for the site.
“They have given approval of the site,” Halvorsen president Thomas Vincent told the Hendersonville City Council in December, referring to the supermarket chain. “So we’re full-speed ahead moving toward a groundbreaking in the mid to latter part” of 2016.
Plans submitted by Halvorsen show a 49,000-square-foot store on 6.9 acres. The development, called South Market Village, has one entrance on Greenville Highway across from Copper Penny Drive and one on White Street. It has 246 parking spaces. A traffic impact study did not show the need for a traffic light on Greenville Highway at Copper Penny.
“DOT’s reviewing those plans,” said Dave Hazzard, senior planner for the city. The city planner and city zoning administrator must issue the final site plan approval before Halvorsen can move ahead.
“We will require DOT approval of the improvements,” he said. “They need final site plan approval and zoning compliance before they can get a building permit. We’re kind of the hub for the final approval.”
The contractor’s plans to handle stormwater runoff and floodplain issues are still being reviewed by the state Division of Water Quality. When it approved zoning for the store, the City Council suggested that the builder might want to use city-owned land behind the property as a stormwater retention pond.
“That’s still in discussion right now as far as how to achieve what they need for the floodplain,” Hazzard said. “That is being talked about, using the city property to help mitigate some of the floodplain issues.”
The new Publix is locating in an area of the city that often floods. To receive a “no rise” permit, the developer must show that the new building and paved surfaces would make flooding no worse than current conditions. Construction officials said that’s doable because nearly all of the seven-acre site is already covered by buildings and parking lots.