A Tampa developer has filed permits for a seven-building retail and entertainment center on 8 acres next to Publix in the Marketplace at Nocatee.

The Hub at Nocatee would bring 63,225 square feet of shops, restaurants and entertainment to 28 Sawston Road, with a target opening in 2028, the Jacksonville Daily Record first reported. The estimated construction cost is $7.2 million.

Center Connect Development III, the Tampa-based firm behind the project, announced its plans in a July 6 news release. The company was founded in 2019 by siblings Paul Bissett and Courtney Bissett-Hayes, who previously ran Bissett, McGrath Properties, a Tampa Bay real estate brokerage.

Courtyard design built around golf carts and music

The site plan calls for seven shell buildings ranging from 5,056 to 13,534 square feet, arranged around a central open-air courtyard. The design includes outdoor seating, dedicated golf cart parking and space for weekend live music and community events.

Bissett said in the July 6 announcement that the center aims to combine everyday retail with dining, entertainment and community events, as reported by the St. Johns Citizen.

Four leases signed, but no tenants named

Individual tenant spaces range from 1,261 to 5,064 square feet and can be combined. Planned uses include entertainment, food-and-beverage, medical, pet, restaurant and service tenants, according to a Franklin Street marketing brochure reported by the Daily Record on July 13.

Franklin Street, the commercial real estate firm marketing the project, said at the time that it was negotiating at least six letters of intent, had three out for signature and had signed four. The signed deals cover two restaurants, one service provider and one pet tenant.

No tenant names have been disclosed. Nineteen spaces remained available as of July 13.

Site ownership and the developer's Tampa Bay track record

The property is owned by Sonoc Co. LLC of Jacksonville, which the Daily Record identified as part of the Davis family that founded Winn-Dixie. Bay Area Building Solutions Inc. of Tampa is the listed contractor, and England, Thims & Miller Inc. of Jacksonville is the civil engineer.

Center Connect has built two similar Hub-branded projects in the Tampa Bay area: The Hub at Bexley in Land O' Lakes and The Hub at Lexington in Wesley Chapel. Tenants at Bexley include BellaBrava, Taco Bus, Checkmate Escape Rooms and Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, according to the developer's website.

The surrounding Nocatee area includes more than 2,000 single-family homes and more than 2,000 multifamily residences, according to the project's marketing materials. The St. Johns River Water Management District was reviewing a minor modification to an environmental resource permit for the 8.07-acre site as of July 13.

No groundbreaking date or permit approval timeline has been announced. The 2028 opening remains the only public milestone.