What’s up with Publix planned for Beaufort? What we know about upgrades to plaza
A major improvement planned at an aging Beaufort shopping center has begun with a project expected to spark additional investment in the vicinity.
There’s still no word, however, on when construction will start on the Publix grocery store that will anchor Beaufort Plaza at Robert Smalls Parkway and Boundary Street.
“Unfortunately, the start and completion dates for this 48,000 square-foot store located in Beaufort Plaza has yet to be announced,” Chris Norberg, a Jacksonville-based spokesman for Publix Super Markets Inc., said Monday.
The city previously said the grocery store was expected to open in the fall of 2021.
Paul Trask, the developer, did not respond to a request for comment.
Dave Prichard, the city’s director of Community and Economic Development, said the city has not issued a construction permit for Publix but will as soon as the developer hires a general contractor and pays for the permit, Prichard said.
Beaufort already has issued permits for site and facade work, and on Monday, backhoes were digging and moving dirt at the site.
The addition of the Publix store is just one aspect of a larger plan to upgrade the appearance of storefronts and make other plaza improvements, Prichard noted.
Stores already in the plaza include the U.S. Postal Service office, Burke’s outlet, Staples, Big Lots and Aaron’s computer, appliances, furniture and electronics store.
Upgrades are scheduled at each of the storefronts, including resurfacing sidewalks, painting facades, installing new LED lights and replacing signs.
New “liner” stores, which will line Robert Smalls Parkway and Boundary Street, also are planned. Store names have not been announced, said Prichard, noting that plans also call for re-configuring the parking lot.
Work that’s allowed now includes landscaping, lighting changes, facade work and installing pads for the “liner” buildings, Prichard said.
The new Publix store will be on the southeast section of the plaza, to the rear of a movie theater that was demolished.
Changes at the shopping center follow the $33-million Boundary Street redevelopment project completed in 2018 and meant to make one of the city’s main thoroughfares more welcoming and spur development in the area.
The plaza improvements will encourage additional investment, Prichard said.
“On balance, it’s going to be good for the city, and it’s also going to be good for that part of city,” Prichard said.
Harris Teeter proposed on Lady’s Island
Publix will be the second new grocery store in the area, and a third is planned.
Doors opened at a new Food Lion grocery April 21 at 2127 Boundary St. It took the place of a BI-LO and is less than a mile from the Beaufort Plaza.
Harris Teeter is pursuing a new grocery store plus a convenience store and gas station at 163 Sea Island Parkway on Lady’s Island. It is planning to build on a site vacated by Publix for a new store on the other side of Sea Island Parkway.
The Beaufort Design Review Board signed off on the Harris Teeter plans Jan. 21, but the city hasn’t given final approval.
South of the Broad River, a new Publix near the S.C. 170 traffic circle in Bluffton opened in March.
