A shopping center with a 74,000-square-foot grocery store is advancing at Veterans Parkway and County Road 210 West in St. Johns County.

JEA issued a service availability letter Oct. 29 for the Helow Commercial Center, as first reported by the Jacksonville Daily Record. The letter is an early step in JEA's utility development process, separate from the county's land-use review.

The proposed plaza totals 94,850 square feet. Site plans submitted by Jacksonville-based Dominion Engineering Group show the grocery anchor plus an attached 10,840-square-foot retail component and two 5,000-square-foot retail spaces in the parking lot. Four outparcels and a 1.12-acre fueling station site round out the development.

The grocery tenant has not been named. Publix and Winn-Dixie previously confirmed they are not involved. The store's 74,000-square-foot footprint resembles the size of a Harris Teeter, the Daily Record reported. Harris Teeter builds fueling stations near its grocery stores.

Bigger than the original plans

St. Johns County began reviewing the project in November 2025. At that time, plans submitted by Jacksonville-based Kimley-Horn showed a smaller development: a 61,000-square-foot grocery anchor, an 11,000-square-foot attached retail component and one 5,000-square-foot retail space. The total shopping center footprint was 77,000 square feet. The four outparcels and fueling station were part of those earlier plans.

The grocery anchor has since grown by 13,000 square feet. A second parking-lot retail space was added.

The project has not advanced beyond St. Johns County's development review process, according to the Daily Record.

Helow Properties and the Greenbriar connection

Helow Properties Ltd. owns the land and is the developer of the master-planned Greenbriar community. The Greenbriar Community Development District (CDD), approved by the Board of County Commissioners in January 2024, encompasses about 1,248 acres, according to a separate Daily Record report published in August 2026. The CDD was established to fund infrastructure for up to 1,993 planned homes.

The district is generally east of Longleaf Pine Parkway, north of Greenbriar Road and west of Veterans Parkway.

Harris Teeter's Florida status

Harris Teeter, owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., currently operates one Florida store in Fernandina Beach. The chain previously had a Ponte Vedra Beach location that closed in 2006.

Harris Teeter announced in November 2025 it would open a store at the Atlantic North shopping center at Atlantic and Kernan boulevards in Jacksonville. Construction is underway, with the store expected to open in early 2027.

Danna Robinson, Harris Teeter's director of corporate affairs and customer relations, said in a July 2026 statement that the company does not comment on potential sites beyond locations where it is operating or has signed leases, the Daily Record reported.

The project remains in county development review.