Parrish Walmart construction to begin soon after permit delays

It was April 2016 when Benderson Development filed construction permits for a Walmart Supercenter that would anchor a long-planned Creekside Commons plaza in Parrish.

Other than some preliminary site work on 50 acres at the intersection of Erie Road and U.S. 301, there has been no activity at the site, leaving residents wondering what happened and the rumor mill churning fast.

But officials say all is well and the 285,000-square-foot retail plaza is close to clearing its final hurdle for construction to begin.

Neither Benderson nor Walmart officials returned calls for comment, but Manatee County Building and Services Director John Barnot said Walmart would not close on the property until all of the permits had been received, and one more is pending.

“There is one more permit they need and that’s from (Florida Department of Transportation), which stands to reason because all of the entrances into that area are off 301, which would be issued by FDOT,” Barnot said. “They expect to have that in hand in the next few days, and I’m told that it’s full speed ahead from there.”

Barnot said it makes sense that no further work has been done until all of the permits are in hand because, “The next step would be all of the infrastructure work and that’s very costly.”

The project was first approved in 2008, but the Great Recession halted construction and the plans were modified in 2014 with Benderson signaling the projects readiness by filing construction permits last year.

Walmart will occupy the lion’s share of the acreage with a planned 182,000-square-foot supercenter at an estimated construction cost of $10.25 million, with the entire project expecting to cost a little more than $16 million. Benderson’s site plan includes a 52,813-square-foot strip center attached to Walmart among other retail sites fronting U.S. 301.

Benderson has owned the property since 2004, having purchased it for $2.12 million at the time.

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Parrish Walmart construction to begin soon after permit delays."