New development near Old Town will bring another Publix, more businesses to Columbus
An Atlanta-based company is bringing a new Publix-anchored development called Old Town Marketplace to Columbus that will open in 2024.
Columbia Properties Inc. is building the new development on Veterans Parkway across the street from Old Town and the businesses that will be located there currently include Publix, Jersey Mike’s, Starbucks and Guthrie’s.
A couple other restaurants have also sent letters of intent to open locations in Old Town Marketplace, Columbia Properties Managing Partner Dan O’Neill told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Residents in the area should expect a change in their commute with another traffic light being installed at the location, O’Neill said.
At the site, crews have begun to do some of the clearing and landscaping work, he said, but construction on the building will not begin until January. Publix and other businesses were initially going to open in 2023, but the date was pushed back to January of 2024, O’Neill said.
“The supply chain stuff really affected construction,” he said. “It’s really pushed us back a good bit, but we’ve got a pretty hard date now.”
The new Publix will be 48,000-square feet, O’Neill said, and is one of the company’s nicer prototypes. It will be a more “higher-end” store than the average Publix, he said.
The decision to build another Publix in this location was driven because of the growth of the Old Town community, O’Neill said.
“Old Town’s got some of the nicer growth in the city,” he said. “We mainly look for sites for Publix, and those are the kinds of things that Publix looks for when they’re looking for a new location.”
Along with the growth of the Old Town area, the location is spaced far enough away from other Publix locations in Columbus to support the grocery store. The closest other Publix would be the location at Bradley Park Square, which is about 3.5 miles away.
While Old Town’s growth was one factor in choosing this location for the new development, Publix has seen success in its other Columbus stores, O’Neill said. The Bradley Park Square location is one of the top performing stores in the region, he said.
“Kroger really is not there,” O’Neill said. “Publix doesn’t have a lot of competition in Columbus, so their sales in their stores in Columbus are higher than most markets.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
