Grocery store planned for former Cadillac dealership

A neighborhood grocery store is planned for the former home of Tutwiler Cadillac at the southwest corner of Meridian and 24th streets. The vacant building across from the Library Services Center most recently served as home to a business furniture store. The plans call for a 16,000-square-foot grocery store, along with an additional 3,000 square feet for retail or office space. A site plan submitted by local architect Craig McCormick shows a sales floor of 9,300 square feet and an entrance along Meridian Street. It does not name the grocery store brand. The developer is Johnny Diaz, who owns grocery stores under various names in South Florida and New York. The one-acre site will have 62 parking spaces, fewer than the 118 mandated by code. However, the city planning staff supported the project in part to encourage reuse of the urban site, which is serviced by bus routes and is in close proximity to several apartment buildings. Plans call for the demolition of a small portion of the building that juts out from the main building toward 24th Street, to make way for more parking. The city still is waiting on a detailed landscaping plan. A co-branded Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins is set to open in the former home of Bonjour Cafe across the street; the restaurant just won approval to add a drive-through. Another developer two years ago had proposed a funeral home for the grocery site but later dropped the plans.