New specialty grocery proposed for Southlake

If all the plans come together, Southlake could have two more grocery stores by next year, both across the street from Central Market on Southlake Boulevard.

A site plan for Trader Joe's at the northwest corner of Southlake Boulevard and Central Avenue in Town Square was approved Tuesday night by the City Council. So was a site plan for the new Park Village retail development on the southwest corner of Southlake Boulevard and Carroll Avenue, which includes an unnamed specialty grocery store.

Trader Joe's signed a lease in the past month for the Town Square site, planning a 13,800-square-foot two-story building with two-story parking that extends back to the north.

Frank Bliss, president of Cooper & Stebbins, which developed Southlake Town Square, gave the council a rundown on plans for Trader Joe's Tuesday night. In the latest rendition of the brick building designed by David M. Schwarz, two walls will have space for murals if the council wants to include them.

An official from Trader Joe's allayed council concerns about wayward shopping carts (carts that stop themselves can be used) and loud delivery trucks (they can be limited to the hours of 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.).

The site plan passed unanimously on first reading, as did the plans for Park Village. Both are scheduled for an Oct. 15 public hearing.

Park Village, with its dramatic, Bellagio-style water feature planned at the corner, is back for a second try after withdrawing its proposal for a retail development last fall.

A parking garage the council disliked last time is gone now and a long list of aesthetic and traffic concerns has been addressed.

Rick Machak of The Woodmont Co., which is developing the site, told the council he hopes to see all the building walls up by Aug. 1, 2014, and the development finished by Nov. 1.

Names of tenants have not been released.