A mystery grocery store looking to build in Lakeland has decided against expansion at this time.
City officials still do not know which grocery store chain was interested in the property located on the north side of U.S. 64 at Berryhill Road. It started in August, when a site selector team reached out to Lakeland city attorney, Will Paterson, about the possibility of a new grocery store on Highway 64. However, the Board of Commissioners would need to amend a city ordinance removing certain regulations preventing retail food stores from selling alcohol before they could continue looking at the property in Lakeland. The ordinance change was necessary since the parcel of land the grocery store was interested in developing is located next to the Macon Road Baptist Church property previously used as a day care. That facility is empty now and the day care no longer operates at that location.
According to City Manager Shane Horn, he received a call last Friday from the site selector and was told the ownership group would not be moving forward at this time. Mr. Horn said no real details were provided but he was surprised. “They had this site at a 90% possibility for development,” Mr. Horn said. He also stressed it was not a decision that reflects on Lakeland, saying, “it was more based upon the current climate and challenges of moving ahead into a new market at this time.”
Officials are still hopeful that the project may resurface once again in the future or other developers might show interest in the same parcel of land.
