Recently, many residents have been inquiring about the new construction project located kitty-corner to StoreRight Self Storage and Harbor Shell. An article in the TC Palm newspaper online edition clears up many of these questions. The article in it’s entirety is shown in italics below:
By Henry A. Stephens
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — After months of inaction, as nature reclaimed part of a hill of fill dirt, construction workers are back, southeast of U.S. 1 and 53rd Street, working on the long-discussed Harbor Point, a 68,500-square foot shopping center anchored by the county’s newest Publix.
“We’ve been chomping at the bit for three years now, waiting for (53rd Street) to be finished,” Winter Park developer Michael Collard said Friday. “But we’ve finally broken ground.”
County Public Works Director Chris Mora in December cut the ribbon on a $12 million project extending 53rd Street, connecting Indian River Boulevard to 58th Avenue, and creating a four-way intersection at U.S. 1. Publix officials said they worked behind the scenes on design and permit issues before visible construction could start Sept. 1.
Publix is looking for 53rd Street to bring customers from Waterway Village and Vero Lago on 58th Avenue, in addition to Grand Harbor to the east and the barrier island across the Barber Bridge.
Collard is developing the site jointly with the North American Development Group Inc., of West Palm Beach. Heinkel, Griffin & Rufrano Construction Inc., of Winter Park, is building the shopping center.
County building permits, issued July 30, place the Publix at 49,840 square feet, with the additional retail strip at 15,623 square feet. Construction is valued at $5.2 million for the Publix and $1.3 million for the other shops.
Garry Conrad, project superintendent with Heinkel, said he has until March to finish his job, adding that Publix will need until early summer to ready the store for a grand opening.
And when it opens, Publix will be far from the only new business there. Drew Forness, the leasing agent and president of Winter Park’s Forness Properties, said he has rented out half the space and listed coming tenants as:
The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., famous for New York-style bagels
The Hair Cuttery, a family salon
The Hair Shop for Men, a traditional men’s barber shop
Pana Inc., an Italian restaurant
A nail salon
A Chinese restaurant
“We want to create a center that serves the needs and desires of the community,” Forness said in a prepared statement. “And with this in mind, we are hoping to secure additional tenants including a specialty boutique, fine wine store and liquor store and a banking institution.”
Collard said he also is developing the northeast corner of 53rd Street and U.S. 1, known as The Landings, but said the Publix project is the more important one right now.
“We don’t have any plans for the northern site,” he said. “It could be an AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts. But we want to wait until Harbor Point creates the demand.”
