The developers of a new Walmart in southeast Ocala were given a green light by city officials earlier this week to revitalize an old shopping center that has sat vacant for a decade.
On Tuesday, the Ocala City Council approved a request from Walmart Stores East, LP, to rezone a .36-acre parcel from community business to shopping center. The parcel will feature a self-service gas station.
With the approval, the grocery chain is now poised to convert the former Winn-Dixie at Cedar Shores Shopping Plaza into a Walmart Neighborhood Market. The plaza, which has since been renamed Saddleback Square Shopping Center, welcomed a Starbucks in 2021.
The new Walmart will be located at 3535 Maricamp Road, situated near the roadway’s intersection with SE 36th Avenue. In addition to the gas station and the grocery store, the development will also feature two outparcels available for future businesses.
In August, agents representing the grocery chain received a recommendation for approval from the Ocala Planning and Zoning Commission.
Walmart has slowly established a foothold in the tri-county area over the past decade.
Currently, there are four Walmart Supercenters scattered across the city of Ocala. There is also one other Walmart Neighborhood Market located at 7855 SW State Road 200.
The new Walmart Neighborhood Market is within approximately five miles of the Walmart Supercenter in Silver Spring Shores that opened in 2013. It’s also about 4.5 miles from the Walmart Supercenter on East Silver Springs Boulevard.
In nearby Sumter County, a fourth Walmart serving The Villages was announced just this week.