Proposed Publix store gives boaters the option to buy groceries on the beach
Publix is planning a new supermarket near Hollywood’s beach, according to city officials.
The Lakeland-based grocer would occupy a three-story building on a 1-acre empty parking lot at 3100 S. Ocean Drive, bordering the Intracoastal Waterway, on the western side of State Road A1A and north of The Diplomat Beach Resort, according to public records.
In a Facebook post on Thursday morning, Mayor Josh Levy said Publix plans to have cafe tables on Ocean Drive and a boat dock for boaters to pull up and buy groceries for their day on the water.
“Great amenity for the beach and for Hollywood boaters!” he wrote.
City spokeswoman Raelin Storey said plans are expected to go in December before Hollywood’s Technical Advisory Committee, which reviews projects for technical compliance with the zoning and land development code, and later to the Planning and Development Board, which provides a recommendation to the City Commission.
A Publix spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday.
Construction could be complete by early 2020, according to the application letter, which also revealed that the first two floors of the building would be parking, with the supermarket above it.
“We believe that the location of a well-known and high quality supermarket on the beach will be a direct benefit to city residents who will no longer need to travel off of the barrier island to serve their daily needs,” Graham Penn, attorney for the owner of the land, wrote in a letter to the city.
Publix has more than 1,187 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina and operates nearly 240 liquor stores. It opened a new store in Oakland Park earlier this month in a former Safeway building.