During the Destin City Council meeting on Monday night, Mayor Gary Jarvis announced that Publix is set to purchase the Old Time Pottery property.
- Back in January, the council voted to look into purchasing the property to expand the city’s recreation.
“Publix bought the land and they have hired a development team in Atlanta that normally does their work,” said Mayor Jarvis to council. “I haven’t had a personal face-to-face meeting with a representative of Publix.”
- According to Councilman Kevin Schmidt, Publix has had a preliminary meeting with city staff.
“We are under the assumption that they’re going to need about 6-9 acres of that 21 acres for their retail,” added Mayor Jarvis. “We do believe that they’re going to scrape and rebuild so it’s not a renovation.”
While the city was unable to purchase the property, there is still a possibility of working with Publix on what could become a City Center on the remaining portions of the property.
This center could house:
- A new community center
- Expanded athletic complex
- Multi-use event center
As of right now, nothing has been discussed with Publix regarding a City Center. There have been no timelines given as to when construction on the property would begin for the new store.