A Publix supermarket will anchor the commercial phase of The Crossings development in Carrollton.

Plans on file with Isle of Wight County show a 51,851-square-foot grocery store and an additional 7,200 square feet of attached retail space on an 11.28-acre parcel at the corner of two newly-created roads: Lori Anne Way and Spadea Way. The parcel is located directly behind land along Carrollton Boulevard where a Royal Farms gas station approved last year is slated to break ground.

Amy Ring, director of community development for Isle of Wight County, told county supervisors on Feb. 2 that a “major chain” grocery store was undergoing final review by her office.

Though she didn’t name the store, a Dec. 2 letter from Ring’s office to developer Asa Harris of Raleigh, North Carolina-based Harris Development Partners identifies the proposed supermarket as Publix.

Last year, county supervisors approved Crossings developer Jerry Bowman’s request to scrap circa-2002 plans for a shopping center and instead subdivide The Crossings’ commercial phase into multiple, smaller parcels, one of which Bowman said would house an “upscale” national grocery chain. The development’s residential phase, which will include up to 240 condominium units and 52 single-family homes, broke ground in 2021.

Board of Supervisors Chairman William McCarty and Vice Chairman Joel Acree could not immediately be reached for comment. Supervisor Rudolph Jefferson praised the grocery competition the new store would bring to Carrollton, which for years has relied on a single Food Lion store in its Eagle Harbor-area shopping center.

“I will definitely stand by a new grocery store coming into the county,” Jefferson said.

Publix’s Florida-based corporate headquarters declined to confirm the pending Carrollton supermarket.

“Publix does not confirm store locations until a lease has been signed,” said Publix spokesman Jared Glover.

As the site plans are still under review by the county, Isle of Wight officials couldn’t say how soon the Publix would break ground.

“The sooner the better,” Jefferson said.

The pending Carrollton Publix comes nine months after Publix confirmed its intentions to open a slightly smaller, 45,000-square-foot supermarket in neighboring Suffolk in the city’s Planters Station development at Godwin Boulevard and Kings Fork Road.

Including the Carrollton Publix, there are five businesses that have committed to The Crossings’ commercial phase. The others are:

• A 12-pump Royal Farms gas station, convenience store and drive-thru car wash
• A new branch of Langley Federal Credit Union with drive-thru service
• An 18,400-square-foot, two-story medical building
• A 4,740-square-foot single-tunnel express car wash tentatively known as the Rio Carwash Club

According to Isle of Wight Planner Trenton Blowe, the medical office has received final site plan approval and could potentially break ground within the next few months or early next year. It would be located at the corner of Carrollton Boulevard and a newly constructed road named Crossings Way.

Carrollton has seen a population explosion over the past decade as new housing developments on Isle of Wight County’s northern end build out. As of 2010, the census-designated place had just over 4,500 residents and grew to nearly 7,500 as of the 2020 Census.