New shopping center on track for southern DeLand

Published: Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 5:34 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 8:19 p.m.

DELAND As cleanup work at the site of a former golf course wraps up, developers are hoping to start construction on a new shopping center on the site in the southern part of city next month.

Country Club Corners could host shoppers as early as next fall, said attorney Mark Watts of Cobb Cole, a representative for Lake Mary-based Tailwinds Development.

The 14.5-acre shopping center is one piece of a roughly 105-acre mixed-use development planned for the site of what was once the DeLand Country Club. The centerpiece of the shopping center will be a 53,785-square-foot Publix supermarket.

The new grocery store will replace an existing Publix directly across the street, anchoring the Southpointe Commons shopping center.

The Publix building will have another 8,400 square feet of retail space attached to it. Another 31,300-square-foot junior anchor retail building is planned just north of the Publix. Combined with smaller outparcels, the center will offer 104,033 square feet of retail and restaurant space in total.

The new Publix will be significantly larger than the old one, which is 42,000 square feet, said Dwaine Stevens, a Publix spokesman.

The developers are working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to clean up dieldrin pesticide contamination on the property. The pesticide was used on the golf course decades ago before it was found to be toxic and banned in the 1980s.

In 2011, contamination was discovered in the soil and groundwater of several neighborhoods near the golf course. There is work going on on the property now, said Watts. Most of that is related to the remedial action plan that was approved by the DEP. On the commercial side I think well be wrapped up in January (with the remediation work) and well be starting with the infrastructure part of the commercial side.

Watts said the cleanup work has progressed well and without any surprises. Similar work on the residential side of the project is set to begin in April.

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New shopping center on track for southern DeLand