A 50-year-old strip mall’s facelift is pushing mountains of earth skyward where an asphalt parking lot once led shoppers into an old Publix. Freshly painted new light pole rest atop the uneven dirt mounds, awaiting placement.
Construction crews work on the storefront of a new build Publix set to replace an old store at the Briar Bay Shopping Plaza across the street from The Falls in South Miami-Dade on Nov. 1, 2024. The mall anchor store, which will be two stories and about 53,000 square feet, is at 13005 SW 89th Place.
But a new Publix sign, its polished green lettering on white background, is in place. Sometime in 2025, a modern prototype Publix will open here, rising two stories.
Construction crews work on the storefront of a new build Publix set to replace an old store at the Briar Bay Shopping Plaza across the street from The Falls in South Miami-Dade on Nov. 1, 2024. The mall anchor store, which will be two stories and about 53,000 square feet, is at 13005 SW 89th Place.
The new Publix, with a second-floor dining area and a parking garage, will enliven a shopping complex that had begun to look faded and outdated before the pandemic five years ago. Plans for a redo started in 2020.
Briar Bay Shopping Plaza, owned by the Lakeland-based grocery chain since its purchase for $16.7 million in 2015, had a 1974-era 32,000-square-foot supermarket as its main anchor on one end of the mall. The Macy’s store at The Falls is in eye view across the street. The other end of Briar Bay features an Outback Steakhouse.
In 2022, demolition of much of the mall began, with the old Publix shuttered in August 2022, and torn down by fall 2023. The late-1980s-era Outback remained as the mall’s second main anchor. The restaurant remains open while construction has swirled around it for years.
The Publix at the Briar Bay Shopping Center at 13005 SW 89th Place in Miami, across the street from The Falls, is temporarily closed so that the Lakeland-based chain can build a more contemporary Publix on-site.
KNOW MORE: Two old Publix stores in South Florida face demolition — and rebirth. What’s planned?
A year after the old Publix turned into rubble, construction crews scurry to complete its contemporary replacement, one of two new prototype two-story Publix supermarkets coming to rebuilt shopping plazas in Miami-Dade.
The other is rising about eight miles north at 1542 S. Dixie Hwy., where the Riviera Plaza once stood.
The old Riviera Plaza on US1 will soon sport a 47,000-square-foot Coral Gables Publix at 1542 S. Dixie Hwy. This file photo from Aug. 25, 2024, shows the new store under construction.
On Friday afternoon at Briar Bay, crews hustled along the outside walls, perched inside Caterpillar heavy machinery like excavators and dozers, to put finishing touches atop the facade’s center wall where the new green and white Publix sign is already in place. Lettering announcing where the liquor store will have its own entrance is complete.
A crewman in hard hat said workers were under pressure to complete the outside work so that Publix can begin finishing work inside and stocking shelves for the coming store. New stairs and railings are visible inside the store’s lobby through tinted windows on the parking garage side.
Construction crews work on the storefront of a new build Publix set to replace an old store at the Briar Bay Shopping Plaza across the street from The Falls in South Miami-Dade on Nov. 1, 2024. The mall anchor store, which will be two stories and about 53,000 square feet, is at 13005 SW 89th Place.
Lindsey Willis, spokeswoman for Publix, said she doesn’t have an opening date for the new Falls-area store yet. The new store will top 53,000 square feet — some 20,000-square-feet larger than the supermarket it’s replacing. But she shared some details.
“There will be a seating area on the second floor for customers to sit and enjoy lunch,” Willis said. “There will also be a parking garage on the first floor and the main store will be located on the second floor. This location will also have a liquor store on the ground level with the parking garage.”
In 2020, Publix filed plans in Miami-Dade to redevelop the Briar Bay shopping center property it owns, according to the South Florida Business Journal. About 11,000 square feet of the mall will feature refurbished retail stores sandwiched between the sprawling Publix at 13005 SW 89th Pl. and the Outback.
Publix has opened, or is about to open, sevrtal new stores around Florida. Here are two more for 2024:
▪ Destin Publix at Main Street, 771 Harbor Blvd. in Okaloosa County, opened Oct. 30. The new Destin Publix is 61,0444 square feet.
▪ Courtyard Shops at Wellington, 13880 Wellington Trace in Palm Beach County will open a 58,834 square foot Publix with a pharmacy and liquor store. Willis said the Wellington Publix will boast a Pours section inside the store serving draft beer, wine, smoothies, espresso and premium coffees. This Publix is set to open Nov. 21.
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Construction crews work on the storefront of a new build Publix set to replace an old store at the Briar Bay Shopping Plaza across the street from The Falls in South Miami-Dade on Nov. 1, 2024. The mall anchor store, which will be two stories and about 53,000 square feet, is at 13005 SW 89th Place.
