Lucky’s Market Site In Florida Up For Grabs For Medical Or Grocery Space

Reports that Lucky’s Market is shutting down almost all of its Florida grocery stores leaves the one under construction in Cape Coral in limbo.

Of the 12 existing Lucky’s Markets in Florida, only the one in Melbourne will remain operational, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Employees at the two Lucky’s Market locations in Naples were told their stores are closing.

The Lucky’s Market construction site in Cape Coral, which took more than a decade to assemble by local developer Dan Creighton, is not quite half-finished.

Creighton, who was traveling with limited phone and internet access, released a statement through Priority Marketing: “As representatives for SB-VETS-1 LLC, which serves as the landlord of this property, we are not privy to Lucky’s Market’s next steps at this point and have no additional information beyond what has already been shared publicly We are hopeful the next tenant for this site will be another excellent fit for the Cape Coral community.”

Work on the Lucky’s Market in Cape Coral has halted as the grocery chain is backing out of Florida. The building was to be completed by June but is now in limbo off Veterans Parkway and Santa Barbara Boulevard. (PHOTO CREDIT: David Dorsey)

Walls are already up on what was planned to be the 30,000-square-foot Lucky’s at the southeast corner of Veterans Parkway and Santa Barbara Boulevard. The store shell is flanked by a still-under-construction Wawa gas station and convenience store, Aspen Dental, other businesses and a new and open Burger King that are accessible from Santa Barbara.

Creighton celebrated the groundbreaking in September with city dignitaries on hand. He said then the construction would be targeted for completion by June of this year.

This marks the second time in two years a major chain has announced plans to open a grocery in Cape Coral only to back out. Fresh Market announced plans to build a store in Coralwood Mall. It backed out and Aldi has taken its place there. And now Lucky’s Market remains in limbo.

“One does not have to do with the other,” said Gary Tasman, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield in Fort Myers. About a month ago, Kroger backed out of financing Lucky’s Market, which put the store in financial jeopardy. Lucky’s has been looking for a replacement partner,” Tasman said of the chain that began by a husband and wife in Boulder, Colorado. “And it’s my understanding they haven’t been able to find one. That’s why you’re seeing them retreat on their growth. Everything I’ve seen in the Cape justifies the need for additional grocers in Cape Coral based on the growth and sales and all that. But that internal partnership, it just for whatever reason separated out. The financial capacity just wasn’t there to execute it.”

Tasman said he did not know the scenarios surrounding the Cape Coral property and construction site. But he hoped for the best for Creighton, who should be able to find a solution in the long-term for what has been yet another speed bump.

“I don’t know his deal,” Tasman said of Creighton. “I can’t speak to it. But I know Dan Creighton is a very smart, astute businessman. I just have to believe he built certain protections for himself. My hope for Dan is that he is adequately protected. The risk he was willing to take to do that deal was commensurate with the risk that he was willing to take and gain on the upside and protecting him on the downside.”

As for the site’s future, Tasman speculated that another chain like Trader Joe’s or Sprouts could look at the site. Or he could see it as a medical-related space or a big-box store.

“You know, that’s a hard one right now,” Tasman said. “I’m not sure it would be retail. There’s definitely a demand for a grocer in that spot. It could also be medical. I do believe it will be backfilled into something else. If the footprint works for other concepts, frankly I think medical is a great use for it. It’s a great location. I think you’re going to see medical or a big-box retailer.”

 

Source: News-Press