Wal-Mart Wins Second Run for 218,000-SF Supercenter

After being rejected three years ago by Clermont, FL city council for a 250,000-sf Supercenter, the retailer and the developer resubmitted plans for a 218,000-sf structure that was finally accepted last week in a close 3-2 vote by elected officials. Council members had to bend the city's rules on the 100,000-sf cap for big-box retail projects.

Wal-Mart plans to break ground by year end on an estimated $21 million building, local construction industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com. The store will be part of the 423-acre Lost Lake Reserve subdivision Westshore is developing, scheduled to have 66 acres of commercial and office; 600 apartments; and 508 single-family homes. The site is south of state Road 50 and east of U.S. 27, about 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando.

Wal-Mart's bureaucratic victory comes as rival Target Inc. plans a March 9 debut for its 175,000-sf Supertarget store in the Clermont market, which has evolved into the hottest commercial development hub in Central Florida over the past five years. Home Depot Inc. opened its 125,000-sf retail and garden center Jan. 23 on State Road 50 in Clermont.

Wal-Mart's entry into the south Lake County market follows its Jan. 15 debut of its first 40,000-sf Neighborhood Watch brand convenience store in Florida, opened in Oviedo, FL, an Orlando suburb in neighboring Seminole County. The store is at the northwest corner of Alafaya Trail and McCulloch Road near the 35,000-student University of Central Florida campus.

Wal-Mart bought the two-acre site in September 2002 from Alafaya Development Corp. for $3.13 million ($1.57 million per acre), according to Orange County real estate records. Like the Clermont site, Oviedo residents and elected officials opposed the project for more than a year.