Kroger to Build Downtown store, anchor 18 story new building (Cincinnati: apartment, home)

[cincydave8]

Kroger plans to build an urban format grocery at Central Parkway and Walnut Street by 2019 as part of a mixed-use project that will contain an apartment tower and a parking garage.

The 45,000-square-foot, two-level store will be different from other stores in the region in several ways, but the most significant is that it will have a second-floor bar and food hall with a terrace, four or five third-party restaurants and vendors offering ready-to-eat products. The store will replace parking lots surrounding the Hamilton County Administration Building.

The project is happening now because of a confluence of events: The city’s resurgence, particularly in downtown and Over-the-Rhine; an increasing number of people living and looking to reside in the urban core; and the availability of the right spot – a location that can serve both downtown and OTR, said Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen.

“You have Over-the-Rhine. You have downtown. You have a location that’s an easy traffic pattern to get to. It’s along the streetcar line. It brings a lot of pieces together,” McMullen said. “To me, it’s really building on all of the things the city has done.”

Kroger will close its small Over-the-Rhine store on Vine Street and donate the site to 3CDC for redevelopment.

The 18-story, 139-apartment building located directly on the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar line will have 140 spaces of the 550 parking spaces set aside for Kroger customers.

More:
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnat...as-a-part.html
and
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnat...-proposed.html

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by cincydave8

Kroger plans to build an urban format grocery at Central Parkway and Walnut Street by 2019 as part of a mixed-use project that will contain an apartment tower and a parking garage.

The 45,000-square-foot, two-level store will be different from other stores in the region in several ways, but the most significant is that it will have a second-floor bar and food hall with a terrace, four or five third-party restaurants and vendors offering ready-to-eat products. The store will replace parking lots surrounding the Hamilton County Administration Building.

The project is happening now because of a confluence of events: The city’s resurgence, particularly in downtown and Over-the-Rhine; an increasing number of people living and looking to reside in the urban core; and the availability of the right spot – a location that can serve both downtown and OTR, said Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen.

“You have Over-the-Rhine. You have downtown. You have a location that’s an easy traffic pattern to get to. It’s along the streetcar line. It brings a lot of pieces together,” McMullen said. “To me, it’s really building on all of the things the city has done.”

Kroger will close its small Over-the-Rhine store on Vine Street and donate the site to 3CDC for redevelopment.

The 18-story, 139-apartment building located directly on the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar line will have 140 spaces of the 550 parking spaces set aside for Kroger customers.

More:
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnat...as-a-part.html
and
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnat...-proposed.html

Speaking from my background in downtown revitalization, IF AND WHEN this happens, it will be huge in its positive impact. But in the 17 years I've been back in Cincinnati, I've learned to take these kinds of announcements with a grain of salt. Even ones that sound as much like a sure thing as the article makes this one sound. I'm curious how this meshes with what I've read recently about projects Kroger had previously announced but now has delayed, such as the Marketplace they announced they would construct at Colerain and Springdale plus others in Green Township and Anderson. More at Kroger delays store construction across Cincinnati region Maybe those resources are being reallocated to the downtown development.

[immersedincincy]

Some posters write with such a grouchy negative intertone, I just wonder what life experiences they may have had to cause this? Why does positive urban development news bother them so badly? I think this awesome development is gonna happen. Once 3CDC gets behind something it pretty much happens. Not only that, but I'm sure this will greatly add to the use of the streetcar. I can see many residents from the Banks, Downtown, OTR, and the Northern Liberties shopping at the new Kroger and the streetcar to get there. Finally!

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by immersedincincy

Some posters write with such a grouchy negative intertone, I just wonder what life experiences they may have had to cause this? Why does positive urban development news bother them so badly? I think this awesome development is gonna happen. Once 3CDC gets behind something it pretty much happens. Not only that, but I'm sure this will greatly add to the use of the streetcar. I can see many residents from the Banks, Downtown, OTR, and the Northern Liberties shopping at the new Kroger and the streetcar to get there. Finally!

I'm guessing you're referring to me, since this is a pretty fresh thread--and that you ignored the part of my initial comment that said this development would be a huge positive for downtown. Once this kind of retail comes back in the urban core, it tends to feed more residential, which feeds more retail, etc. etc. etc. And a vibrant, healthy downtown is hugely important for the whole community--community pride, economic development, lifestyle options, and quality of life.


That said, over the time I've been back in Cincinnati, there have literally been countless projects and developments announced which then either just silently faded away, or seem to have become mired in some kind of financing or regulatory problem which caused them to be scrapped. That's the life experience you're asking about. But hey, don't take my word for it. Come on over to Northside and enjoy the skateboard park. That's not a major or typical example, it's just the one that's become the favorite running joke between my husband and me. Neighborhood kids have been waiting 17 years and counting. Oh, wait. They were born, grew up and left home and there's still no park.


FWIW, all the years I lived in Lexington I don't remember much of this kind of thing. When a project was announced, it seemed to get done, and in a reasonably timely manner. Customs are apparently different here.

[Travel Crazy]

Keep calling it like you see it, Sarah, some of us value that. I've read many, many of your comments and you strike me as aware and perceptive.

It's one of the bonuses of having been around several decades, we've seen the patterns that the young bucks have yet to observe or experience.

[jmecklenborg]

Please. Huge projects are announced an die in every city. For example, foundation work actually started on Chicago's tallest building in 2007, but all they have ten years later is a hole:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Spire

[Wilson513]

Like most things, credibility depends on who is speaking. If Kroger says they are going to build a mid-rise, it will get built. If some "urban developer" says it, it may be a hope or a prayer. If 3CDC says it, it will probably happen but probably not they way they sold it.

[cincydave8]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

FWIW, all the years I lived in Lexington I don't remember much of this kind of thing. When a project was announced, it seemed to get done, and in a reasonably timely manner. Customs are apparently different here.

Really? You can't think of any downtown skyscraper being delayed for years in Lexington?

WKYT Investigates: What's the future of CentrePointe project?

Centerpointe was supposed to open in 2010. It was a grassfield for several years and is just now starting see some actual construction.

3CDC, Kroger and the city just announce and major development and people can only be glass half empty. This news is nearly as exciting as Scooters 4 homers last night.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by cincydave8

Really? You can't think of any downtown skyscraper being delayed for years in Lexington?

WKYT Investigates: What's the future of CentrePointe project?

Centerpointe was supposed to open in 2010. It was a grassfield for several years and is just now starting see some actual construction.

3CDC, Kroger and the city just announce and major development and people can only be glass half empty. This news is nearly as exciting as Scooters 4 homers last night.

As I think I mentioned in one of my postings on the thread, I've been away from Lexington for 17 years, and I haven't really kept up with development news there in the interim. That notwithstanding, it's kind of bad form to argue with someone when they make a personal observation about THEMSELVES. Really, I wasn't lying when I said I didn't recall the same frequency of magical, disappearing development projects there as here. If I'd intended to say it never happens in Lexington, I would have.

I also certainly hope this one comes to fruition.

[flashes1]

Given the high profile nature of the store, its closeness to Kroger's HQ, and 3CDC's support, I think this project is happening. Great news for Cinti.