Daphne’s commercial growth continued this week as the city’s Planning Commission signed off on three new development projects, including a second Dunkin’ Donuts location and a new Volkswagen and Kia dealership.
At its regular meeting, the commission approved plans from Gunther Family Holdings LLC to build a roughly 29,600-square-foot dealership on Frederick Boulevard, between Halls Motorsports and Chris Myers Nissan. The new building will house Team Gunther Volkswagen and Kia, consolidating operations currently split between other locations; Team Gunther Kia currently operates out of the former Tameron Honda Eastern Shore building nearby, after Honda relocated to Frederick Boulevard several years ago.
Separately, Trustmark National Bank and developer H. Ray Hix Jr. of Hix and Snedeker Companies received approval for a roughly 6,000-square-foot multi-tenant building north of Daphne Urgent Care, along the service road parallel to Alabama 181. Plans call for two of three tenant spaces to be filled by a drive-through Dunkin’ Donuts and a C-Spire Wireless store, while the identity of the third, smaller storefront had not been disclosed in planning documents. The new Dunkin’ Donuts would become the chain’s second location in Daphne, following one that opened on U.S. 98 near Interstate 10 in November 2013.
The proposed building sits within the Historic Malbis subdivision near the intersection of U.S. 90 and Alabama 181, a mixed residential and commercial development. If ultimately built, the structure would include a rear brick buffer wall matching the neighboring urgent care center and a nearby Zaxby’s, shielding the subdivision’s homes from the commercial side of the property.
The approvals reflect Daphne’s continued push to fill out commercial corridors along Alabama 181 and U.S. 98, corridors that have seen steady retail and auto dealership growth as the Eastern Shore’s population has expanded in recent years. City planners did not set specific construction timelines for any of the three approved projects, and further site work and permitting will still be required before ground is broken.