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A Publix Super Market will anchor a new shopping center proposed for an 18.02-acre site at Mechanicsville Turnpike and Brandy Creek Drive in Hanover County.

The 49,000-square-foot Publix store in the proposed Brandy Creek Commons development will be the Lakeland, Fla.-based grocery retailer’s 12th store planned for the Richmond region as it carries out an aggressive plan to open stores in Virginia.

The projected opening date for this store is mid-2018, a Publix spokeswoman said Tuesday. The store will employ about 140 workers.

Publix is buying 10 area Martin’s Food Markets stores, seven of which have already closed and are undergoing renovations to become Publix stores. The company has not said when those stores will open, but the renovation work on the stores is proceeding at a good clip.

In addition, Publix is building a 49,000-square-foot store from the ground up at the northeast corner of Nuckols and Twin Hickory roads in western Henrico County. It is part of a planned 90,000-square-foot shopping center to be known as Nuckols Place. Construction of that store also is well under way.

Publix announced a year ago this month that it was entering Virginia with a store in Henrico and one in Bristol, which is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2017.