ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. – Brixmor Property Group has announced its intention to rebuild the Publix at Dolphin Village in St. Pete Beach. Numerous stores in the shopping plaza sustained significant damage after a fire ripped through the complex in May.
What we know:
Brixmor Property Group will submit development plans to the City of St. Pete Beach for consideration. If approved, the new store will replace the existing 33,000-square-foot Publix with a larger, approximately 51,000 square-foot supermarket, featuring covered parking below the elevated store level.
Courtesy: Brixmor Property Group
The Publix was the key anchor in the Dolphin Village shopping center, a major hub for the community and tourists alike.
“Publix is a vital part of Dolphin Village and the only full-service grocery store on the island,” said Matthew Ryan, regional president of Brixmor Property Group. “We are proud to partner with Publix on this next-generation store. We remain deeply committed to the community by working closely with the city to rebuild and revitalize Dolphin Village for future generations.”
The backstory:
A large fire destroyed a CVS store in St. Pete Beach, then spread to Publix and other stores in the Dolphin Village shopping center in May 2025. Smoke from the three-alarm fire could be seen for miles.
St. Pete Beach Communications Manager Marc Portugal said CVS’ roof partially collapsed, but crews contained the fire around six p.m.
Then, around 9 p.m., hot spots ignited in the building’s front facade and the fire spread, damaging several other stores, like the Publix, Swim City, Hungry Howie’s, an AT&T store and the UPS shop.
Neighbors were stunned to see the damage as the stores just recently reopened after suffering damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
There were no injuries in the blaze.
What we don’t know:
If all is approved, it will be several years with project entitlements, approvals and the construction process before the Publix store opening date is to be determined.
The Source: This story was written with information gathered from the Brixmor Property Group, and previous FOX 13 News reports.