A utility service availability request filed with Jacksonville Electric Authority indicates that a grocery tenant believed to be H Mart is exploring space at the Timberlin Village shopping center on Jacksonville’s Southside according to the Jacksonville Daily Record.
The request, submitted Jan. 14, lists an unidentified grocer considering about 53,000 square feet in an existing building at 8801 Southside Blvd. The applicant is Kellyn Whitson of the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm.
A service availability request is typically part of a developer’s due diligence and does not mean a project will be completed. The process is used to determine whether existing electrical and utility infrastructure can support a proposed use.
The filing has drawn attention because an LLC linked to H Mart purchased the 118,083-square-foot Timberlin Village center on Dec. 8 for $13.25 million. The buyer, GSC RE Jacksonville LLC, is managed by Il Yeon Kwon, the founder and CEO of H Mart. The seller was Blue Owl Real Estate LLC, through Edison JAFL001 LLC.
The request lists the location as Unit 1, indicating the potential tenant would occupy the former Bed Bath & Beyond space along with additional adjoining area. The shopping center, built in 1997 and 1998 on 10.31 acres, sits just south of the Interstate 95 interchange. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. closed the store in 2023 following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. PetSmart remains among the center’s tenants.
Headquartered in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, H Mart describes itself as the largest Asian grocery chain in the United States, with 97 stores nationwide. Industry publication Supermarket News has reported that the company generates about $2 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1982 in Woodside, Queens, New York, the chain offers Asian specialty foods, Western groceries and food halls.
The potential Jacksonville site would follow the company’s recent use of large former big-box locations. H Mart opened a 100,000-square-foot store in Orlando in September and a 70,000-square-foot store in Dallas in October, both in repurposed retail spaces.
The move would add to a growing list of Asian and international grocery stores opening across Northeast Florida, including Lotte Plaza Market, which opened in September in a former Best Buy at 9355 Atlantic Blvd., and RD International Market, which debuted in 2024 in a former Winn-Dixie on Beach Boulevard. Additional international grocers are planned or under development in the region.
No lease or construction plans have been confirmed. For now, the utility request signals that the property’s new owner is evaluating options as part of a broader effort to reposition the shopping center.
