New Owners of Former Kroger Site on Romany Rd. Seek Public Input

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The former home of Kroger on Romany Road has been acquired in a joint venture by Greer Companies and The Webb Companies, and the developers are currently seeking ideas from the community about what its future should be.

Both family-owned companies have close ties to the neighborhood, said The Webb Companies President Woodford Webb, which has motivated their interest in revitalizing the property at 344 Romany Road. Webb himself grew up two blocks away, he said, and still lives nearby. After closing on the sale of the property earlier this month, the companies are now inviting community members to submit their own suggestions for bringing the lynchpin of the neighborhood commercial corridor back to life.

“We feel like a grocery store is a great fit for this location,” Webb said.

Before Kroger moved in, Randall’s operated as a supermarket on the site. The Romany Road Kroger closed up shop at that location in September 2015, but the grocery chain appeared to be moving toward a different growth strategy with its renovations and expansions of other Lexington stores in recent years, Webb said. 

“We don’t feel like it closed because of performance,” Webb said. “It just wasn’t their sweet spot.”

A mixed-use development, with residential units above street-level retail, is also a possibility, Webb said.

The property is zoned B-1, which allows neighborhood shopping facilities, including groceries, retail stores and restaurants, on the site. The property’s sale price was not disclosed.

The existing 26,000-square-foot building is currently under lease for roughly two more years to London, Kentucky-based Laurel Grocers, Webb said. The company’s initial plan to house an independent grocery store at the location did not come to fruition.

Webb said the property’s limited size of 1.72 acres will create some parking constraints, but at this point, he doesn’t envision a parking garage or rooftop parking being worked into the plan. Although a timeline for the project has not yet been established, Webb said he hopes the project will progress quickly.

“We’d like to see something happen soon,” Webb said.

Community members who are interested in sharing their thoughts and ideas for the project are invited to submit their ideas by email to contactus@thewebbcompanies.com.