Two years after a major remodeling, Kroger’s Chevy Chase store on Euclid Avenue is seeking to demolish an adjacent apartment building that also houses two businesses in order to expand the supermarket’s barely adequate parking.
And while Kroger has the building’s owner on board for its plans, the nation’s largest supermarket chain still has work to do to convince Lexington officials after the zoning board recommended against the project.
Louis Mulloy, who owns the apartment building, says he has agreed to a plan.
“We would be razing the building and leasing the dirt to Kroger,” said Louis Mulloy, owner of the 22-unit Town & Country Apartments. “There would be new ingress and egress rights on Ashland Avenue to the Kroger store, and it would create some new parking for them.”
The popular and busy Kroger store was enlarged and reopened in January 2015. For decades prior to the redevelopment, Kroger had an entrance to its store through Town & Country’s parking lot. However, that access was blocked after neighborhood residents fought to control the size of the new store and routes to it through their neighborhood.
Mulloy noted that at certain peak hours, a police officer has been stationed in the median on Euclid Avenue in front of the store to help slow down and control traffic flow into, out of, and past the existing parking lot. Mulloy says having the extra parking and access “would relieve all that pressure for them and it would create a safer environment for their customers who shop at Kroger.”
However, Kroger denies there is a safety issue.
“Absolutely not. The way it is designed, it is very safe,” said Danny Lethco, a real estate manager for the Kroger Co. “Everybody has to go out on Euclid, so this would allow them another avenue to access out South Ashland Avenue and also Marquis Avenue.” Lethco said the only reason a police officer is visible in front of the store is to keep traffic flowing.
Before the apartment complex can be demolished, the proposal must be approved by the city’s zoning board. The area is zoned B-1, but a conditional-use permit would be needed to convert the property to a driveway and parking lot. The zoning board’s staff reviewed the plan and recommended disapproval.
“The proposed parking lot design does not provide a safe and inviting access from South Ashland over to the main Kroger parking lot for pedestrians and bikers,” read the staff memo. “Such access should be treated as a critical need, given the relatively high density of residential uses in the surrounding area and proximity to the UK campus.”
The memo went on to state that pedestrians and bikers would be forced to “meander through the parking lot, which is considered an unacceptable and avoidable safety risk.”
A board of adjustment hearing on the issue was scheduled for Dec. 16.
The Kroger store features an unusual element, a rooftop parking lot, thought to be the first for any Kroger store in the nation. Town & Country’s Mulloy said a lot of people don’t want to park on the roof but prefer the ground level. Asked if the rooftop parking was failing, Kroger’s Lethco said: “It has not been a failure. There are a hundred spaces on the ground and more than that on the roof deck. It does get very crowded, and we want our customers to be able to find a parking place when they come to the store.”
Asked who would pay for the demolition of the apartment building, Kroger’s Lethco said: “I don’t know if that matters. We have an agreement with the owners of the apartment building to lease the land from them and demolition is included in that agreement.” Lethco said the ground lease will allow Mulloy to recoup the rents he is currently receiving from the apartments.
Mulloy said he also owns apartments at 444 S. Ashland Ave., across the street from the building that would be torn down, and that up to eight displaced tenants could move there.
The apartment building also contains two small businesses. Lady Diana Hair Design has been a fixture in the neighborhood for decades. Employee Carolyn Padgett has been renting a booth for four years.
“It will affect me. We’ve got to the end of February. I am at an age where I could retire, but I don’t know if I want to,” she said. “I am quite content. I’m an older hairdresser, and I’m really not looking for a new place to go.”
The other business is Petite Delicat, which sells and ships French macarons all over the country. It has been open only a year. Mulloy said the owner, Sylviana Herrin, had the ability to escape her lease and likely would move to a larger storefront.
Lethco said that should the plan be approved, demolition could take place in the spring. “We should be able to use it by summer. We try to plan things around [UK] students’ schedules.”