- November 7, 2024
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Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland, right, speaks as Councilman Nick Klufas looks on during their first workshop since their election to the City Council. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
A developer is seeking to buy a 35,000-square-foot retail space in Town Center to build a Wawa gas station and a Smoky Bones Bar and Fire Grill.
The Palm Coast City Council discussed the proposal the morning of Nov. 29, meeting in workshop for the first time since newly elected Mayor Milissa Holland and City Councilman Nick Klufas joined the board.
The developer, Unicorp, would be buying the land from the city of Palm Coast.
One of the parcels would be bought for $800,000, and the price of an adjacent parcel would be determined after an appraisal.
The land is located on Bulldog Drive, and some of it fronts State Road 100 — prime commercial real estate.
“The corner Bulldog Drive and State Road 100, we could have sold that a long time ago,” City Manager Jim Landon told the council. “Everybody wanted that corner. But we have said all along, you need to bring more because … if you’re not willing to actually put some skin in the game and put contracts on those other parcels, we’re going to hold out until we find a developer that’s going to try to do the whole thing.”
A Unicorp representative said the company had looked at the demographics of Palm Coast and the location’s proximity to Interstate 95 before considering adding a Wawa, and a Smoky Bones Bar and Fire Grill, for the site.
The Wawa and the restaurant would be built in phase one of the construction, said city Administrative Services and Economic Development Director Beau Falgout, then additional retail would be added in a second phase.
The city is near Flagler Palm Coast High School, and the city has already reached out to the school district to discuss how the proposed gas station and restaurant could affect the school’s traffic, Landon said. The most recent Bulldog Drive renovations took into account the possibility of development at the location.
“The whole school traffic pattern and landscaping … we did a couple of years ago, and planned for this development being incorporated in that,” Landon said.
