Indiantown Rd. building boom
Florida Power & Light Co. has started work on a structure at the southwest corner of Delaware Boulevard and Indiantown Road that utility officials say will speed response time during and after emergencies.
The two-story, 25,000-square-foot building will be four times as large as the current one and is designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
Opening is planned for the fall.
As many as 100 “storm riders” will be able to stay at the new building, according to FPL.
The project is part of FPL’s overall plan to upgrade service center buildings and equipment to improve response time for repairs in its 35-county service area. Similar improvements are being made to FPL’s service center near Old Boynton Beach Road west of Interstate 95 in Boynton Beach.
Juno Beach-based FPL has invested more than $2 billion since 2006 to build what it Bill DiPaolo calls a stronger, smarter and more storm-resilient energy grid. FPL said it restored more than 1 million customer interruptions less than 48 hours after Hurricane Matthew exited the area last year.
No gasoline will be stored at the new building. After a storm, company fuel trucks will provide gasoline to the trucks there.
Town Council member Jim Kuretski and Vice Mayor Ilan Kaufer abstained from the vote approving the building. Both are employed by FPL.
Two other projects are under construction and approved for Indiantown Road:
■ AutoZone — the fifth auto parts store along Indiantown Road — is under construction just east of Pennock Lane, across from Zipz’s Italian Kitchen.
The single-story, 7,400-square-foot building on the 1-acre parcel was approved in May 2015 by the Town Council.
Opening is expected in the next several months.
Other auto parts stores along Indiantown Road are Bennett Auto Supply just west of Alternate A1A, Pep Boys near the Wal-Mart, Advance Auto Parts at Center Street and NAPA auto parts at Jupiter Farms Road, in a building that once housed a Park Avenue BBQ & Grille.
AutoZone, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., has 4,800 stores in 48 states, according to its website.
■ The town has approved a project that calls for demolishing the Circle K convenience store/filling station on the south side of Indiantown Road just west of Alternate A1A and building a bigger one with four more pumps, bringing the total to 16.
The 1,000-square-foot building will be replaced by a one that will be about 4,400 square feet.
Total cost will be about $4 million.
Annie’s Italian Ice, a longtime local favorite yogurt and ice cream store on the west side of the property, will stay.
Construction is expected to start this year.