JUNO OFFICIALS NOT ENTHUSED BY PROSPECT OF A WAWA
They listen to pitch from developer that includes Hilton hotel.
Juno Beach officials
JUNO BEACH — who are eager to see the redevelopment of a busy corner at the center of town were less than thrilled by a pitch that included a Wawa gas station.
Juno Pointe Holdings Inc. owns 5½ acres at the northwest corner of Donald Ross Road and U.S. 1. Town officials approved 98 condos above shops, offices
and restaurants in four buildings surrounding a paved public gathering area with a fountain in the middle. But that was in 2007, and Juno Pointe Holdings President Barry Brant halted the project as the market tanked.
Last month, he came before
the Town Council with a new proposal: a five-story Hilton hotel with extended-stay suites, a couple of stores and a Wawa gas station with food service.
Juno Pointe Holdings hasn’t yet submitted any formal plans for the site, which is across the street just north of the Juno Beach Cafe and Thirsty Turtle Seagrill
and west of CVS.
It is kitty-corner to the Juno Beach Fish House.
Town officials said they’d prefer to keep gas stations and service centers on the periphery of town rather than allow them at the heart.
“The corner is really a gateway to the southern part of our town, and the hope is to see a quality project in that area that really incorporates the aesthetics of this town,” Councilwoman Peggy Wheeler said.
Although Wawa is attractive among gas stations and conve
nience stores, “there’s clearly
demand” for retail and commercial space based on the packed parking lot at the Plaza La Mer shopping center, Mayor Jason Haselkorn said.
Plaza La Mer surrounds the future development.
Brant said some of those cars in the parking lot belong to TBC employees working at the tire company’s corporate campus. He’s talked to major grocery chains, he said, and the demographics don’t justify another store “on this side of the Intracoastal.”
The company could build a service-oriented plaza where cars are always coming and going, but he wanted to appease town officials’ desire for pedestrian connections with the Plaza La Mer center.
The property really should be developed into commercial space — and it has to be able to withstand the market pressures of online shopping, Brant said.
The busy intersection isn’t suitable for condos, because residents may object to the noise, he said.
“You talk about aesthetics. I don’t think you could have found a better convenience and gas station company than Wawa for aesthetics,” Brant said. “I’m not denying that it isn’t as beautiful as the fountain we were originally going to put in the front, but the company is willing to design around the project aesthetically.”
Brant said it is planned for what they call the “hard corner,” where a decommissioned Chevron station was demolished in 2006. Walgreens expressed interest but backed out when they learned drive-throughs aren’t allowed.
Resident Anne Bosso, a Realtor and commercial real estate appraiser, said she’s sympathetic to the developer.
“It’s a catch-22. We would all love to see the corner beautifully developed as the gateway to town, but then again, we’ve got to try to work with owners of properties because the market is changing,” she said. “It has to be financially feasible.”