Publix to build second store in Babcock Ranch

Publix plans to build its second Babcock Ranch store to anchor a new 140,000-square-foot shopping center planned in the solar-powered community.

The Lakeland grocer’s store will be in MidTown Marketplace, a commercial center which will be built around the development’s latest expansion.

MidTown, according to a spokesperson for developer Kitson & Partners, includes the new neighborhoods and parks along Babcock Trail and continues east to the where the center and a village green will be built.

Babcock Ranch is an 17,608-acre self-sustaining community that straddles Charlotte and Lee counties about 45 minutes from downtown Fort Myers. It is made up of energy-efficient homes with an 870-acre solar panel farm powering it and its own water reclamation facility.

About 50% of the community’s acreage is preserved.

Construction on MidTown Marketplace and the Publix store are expected to begin early next year. The opening dates have not been announced.

A Publix spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Photo by Steffania Pifferi

The grocery store, according to Kitson & Partners, will be about 55,000 square feet and will have a Publix Liquors next door.

It will feature the chain’s latest format, with more prepared foods offerings — fresh pizza, ramen, sushi, and acai bowls — and a Pours beverage bar with smoothies, coffee, wine, beer, along with café-style seating.

When the store opens, it will be the second Publix in the community. The first opened in 2021 in the Crescent B Commons shopping center.

Publix, which employs more than 260,000 people, currently operates 1,431 stores across eight states. The majority — 888 — are in Florida including a 48,387-square-foot store at The Shoppes at Orange Blossom in Naples which opened Nov. 20.

The chain had $59.7 billion in retail sales last year.