Publix Super Markets paid $11.5 million for a former car dealership in Pinecrest that it plans to convert into a supermarket.

Colliers International South Florida President Michael T. Fay represented the seller, ESF Holdings, managed by Joseph Hallett and Jeffrey Sauey. The 4.9-acre site, at 13401 S. Dixie Highway, was previously the Hallett Pontiac dealership.

Lakeland-based Publix was represented in the deal by developer.

"Due to the strain on the retail industry, the crisis in the automotive industry, as well as the economic recession, this deal had many starts and stops," Fay said in a news release.