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Publix could join bustling Hyde Park

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published May 6, 2006

TAMPA - A busy stretch of Armenia Avenue in the Hyde Park area could become home to a new Publix grocery store.

RMC Property Group submitted a rezoning application Thursday that would pave the way for a two-story supermarket on the east side of Armenia between Azeele and Platt streets.

Plans included with the application indicate that the grocery store would take up slightly more than 40,000 square feet, and its eastern border would be Moody Street. They also show a ramp that would provide access to rooftop parking.

Other details were not available. Michael Leeds of RMC said Friday that he did not want to comment this early in the process.

City zoning officials will have to review the project before it moves on for City Council consideration.

Tampa City Council member John Dingfelder said RMC briefed him on the plan earlier this week for the site, which includes the former Bayside Cleaners.

"After looking at it quickly, it looks like it might be a reasonable location for a store like that," Dingfelder said Friday.

"But that's an important corridor, and we'll be ... looking at the traffic issues very closely."

Dingfelder said he encouraged the developer to look into what type of voluntary contributions it could make to improve the densely populated urban area, such as adding and improving sidewalks.

He also said he was concerned about the impact on Whaley's Market, the family-owned grocery store around the corner.

Whaley's, a Howard Avenue staple for more than 60 years, effectively would be sandwiched inside a half-mile stretch between the Publix and the Swann Avenue Kash n' Karry, which is converting to Sweetbay Supermarket.

However, owner Todd Whaley said Friday that he wasn't concerned about the potential Publix and had no plan to oppose the rezoning.

"Every customer that I have also shops at Publix," he said. "We're a specialty store. The customer who likes Publix is also the customer that likes our store."

Whaley said Kash n' Karry didn't hurt his business when it opened in 1993, because customers come to Whaley's for its service and specific products, such as its hand-selected produce and choice beef.

He said business at his store has been fantastic, and a Publix "might attract more people to the area."

But Whaley, who lives in Lutz, understands that some Hyde Park locals might be less enthused.

"All that traffic," he said. "Yeah, they'll hate it."

[Last modified May 6, 2006, 02:00:14]