Publix plan nears checkout time

A closing date for the existing Longboat Key Publix store hasn’t been set, but the Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc. is still aiming for April, according to spokeswoman Shannon Patten.

And Town Building Official John Fernandez said Tuesday afternoon he doesn’t anticipate difficulties with the timeline proposed by Publix. Construction plans for the new CVS store in the Publix-owned Avenue of the Flowers shopping center are “very much under review,” Fernandez said. Although construction drawings haven’t technically been submitted for the new Publix, he said that the company paid for a courtesy review of plans ahead of time to take care of major issues. Drawings will likely be formally submitted to the town Wednesday, March 14.

“The heavy legwork has been done,” Fernandez said.

Patten revealed a few new details to the Longboat Observer about what residents can expect after the store’s completion, scheduled for sometime before Christmas.

The new Publix will be a hybrid store, with conventional items along with many of the chain’s earth-friendly GreenWise products. Of existing Publix stores in the region, the 54,000-square-foot hybrid store at the Marketplace in Pelican Bay in Naples, which opened in October 2010, is the one that most closely resembles the future Longboat Publix, according to Patten. Like the planned Longboat store, it has enhanced selections of wines and cheeses, salad bar, soup bar and a Pacific wok station carrying Pan-Asian dishes. The Longboat Key Publix will offer coffee and a seating area, but, unlike the Naples store, it won’t have a café because the Longboat store is smaller at approximately 49,000 square feet.

The store will have a pharmacy, but Publix hasn’t determined whether it will also have a liquor store, according to Patten.

Publix revealed in its application in July that it was under contract to buy two parcels adjacent to the store. Local real-estate investor W. Howard Rooks, who owns one parcel, said Monday evening that he expects the sale to close on Wednesday or Thursday. Joseph Wolfer, registered agent of Bay Isles Enclave Acquisition LLC, which owns the other parcel, said that a closing is scheduled for Thursday.
The Longboat Key Town Commission approved two outline development plans and a site-plan amendment for the project in February.