West Villages Improvement District: Publix on track to open in early fourth quarter, with the majority of additional tenants to follow

By Florida Weekly Staff, August,2019
BY EMILY LEINFUSS
West Villages Journal Correspondent

The Rolling Stones got it wrong. You can get what you need and what you want, it’s just a matter of which one you’ll get first.

When it comes to the two planned retail hubs at West Villages, everyday “needs” will arrive before more wide-ranging “wants” when The Marketplace at West Villages opens before the end of 2019.

The Marketplace broke ground at the southwest corner of West Villages Parkway and U.S. 41 in late October of 2018. Its opening is slated for sometime in this fall, “the goal is before Thanksgiving,” says Josh Beyer, vice president of development with the developer, Sembler.

The anchor store, Publix, plans its opening for early in the fourth quarter, according to Brian West, media and community relations manager for the grocery chain. The majority of additional tenants will open over the course of the next few months after that, Mr. Beyer says, adding a grand opening celebration will be held after the balance of tenants are open for business.

Concrete details about The Marketplace and its tenants are becoming known as the 105,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center nears completion. Details about what the Publix will and will not be are clearer, the roster of the center’s tenants is robust and everything is in line with Sembler and West Villages’ vision for The Marketplace.

Ride on

After all, there’s a lot riding on The Marketplace’s success, as it endeavors to satisfy the everyday needs of West Villages residents and the surrounding community.

The Marketplace “was designed to make life easier and more convenient for residents and visitors,” says Christine Masney, West Villages’ vice president of marketing. The second retail hub, West Villages Town Center, will be more of “an urban-inspired retail destination,” according to Massey. West Villages is targeting to begin land development for the town center mid-2020.

Coming on board at The Marketplace is a mix of locally owned small businesses and national retail and service providers. Food is big, — as big as the nearly 50,000-square-foot Publix, which Mr. West says will incorporate some aspects of the company’s latest store prototype. One of those, and probably the most-different feature from earlier stores, is a deli-in-the-round.

“(Marketplace) will have a full-service deli right on the sales floor,” he says.

No longer anchored against a wall, “the ‘round’ arrangement makes it approachable from all sides,” he explains. “All the associates behind the counter are customer-facing,” while deli production work will be in a separate area of the store that customers are not exposed to.

The grocery store will also have a pharmacy and a mezzanine level.
And the chain’s GreenWise products will be found throughout the store with their product groupings, not in a separate Green- Wise section, Mr. West adds.

Restaurants moving into Marketplace include at least one Asian eatery as well as Bocca Lupo, a popular locally owned, pizza/ Italian food establishment, which is opening in a 4,500-square-foot spot along West Villages Parkway. This places a Bocca Lupa in an area its owners have wanted to move into for a few years now.

“We had first considered opening in that area about three years ago, so when we got the official word that West Villages and Sembler were jointly developing Marketplace, we beat a path to its door,” says David Valentino, a member of the restaurant’s ownership group. “Fortunately, they were wonderfully receptive,” he says.

Turns out that a big factor of the Marketplace plan was to secure a casual, family-style restaurant. “They (West Villages/Sembler) wanted to give the community a restaurant with a real sense of place,” Mr. Valentino says. “And we were a perfect match.”

Plans for the eatery, which will be the second Bocca Lupa location, are well underway. The menu is modeled on its existing North Port location offering pizza, wings and salads, plus pasta subs and more Italian-style entrees. “The big internal conversation happening right now is whether we expand even further, as we look toward what should be a December opening,” Mr. Valentino says.

Confirmed

Additionally confirmed Marketplace tenants include the nationally based Dunkin’, The UPS Store, 7 ELEVEN gas station/convenience store and JP Morgan Chase Bank. Chase will be on a 1.28-acre outparcel on the northeast corner and 7 ELEVEN is on 1.66 acres on the northwest corner of the center. Dunkin’, at 2,700 square feet, is in the middle of the row of outparcel buildings.

Local small businesses or locally-owned franchises on board to date include Heartland Dental, The UPS Store, Sparkle Brite Pools of North Port, a nail salon, and a veterinary practice.

“We are excited about the openings, the stores and the restaurants coming to the Marketplace at West Villages,” says Nichole Popovics, Sembler’s vice president of leasing, who confirms she is still negotiating with the last few tenants. “We are preparing to announce a few more prior to Publix opening early in the fourth quarter,” she says. There are also a few outparcels left to lease.

Patrick Johnston, the owner of Sparkle Bright Pools of North Port, has been in the pool service business for 22 years. He opened his first store, a franchise, in 2008, and then bought out the franchise and opened a second location. “We are a ‘mom-and-pop’ shop, and we build our business — which is service, supplies and repairs — around customer relations,” he says. The Marketplace location will be the company’s third.

“We already have some clients in the area,” Mr. Johnston says. “Plus, we are the only authorized BioGuard pool chemicals dealer in the area. People come down from Sarasota to pick them up.”

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate