Lexington, KY - A representative from the Kroger MidSouth Division, which handles the grocery chain's business in the Lexington area, recently met with members of the Chevy Chase Business Owners (CCBO) association to discuss potential changes in the Euclid Avenue location and to address rumors surrounding the project. (Disclosure: this magazine's publisher Chuck Creacy serves as a CCBO board member.)
While any plans regarding the Euclid Kroger are in the preliminary stages, Danny Lethco, a real estate manager for the company, told the group the store needed more square footage to address customers' requests and recommendations. Currently the structure has 38,000 square feet of retail space, which could ultimately be extended to 70,000 square feet.
"We've done about as good as we can with the box that we have," Lethco said. "That additional square feet allows us to have ... better items, things that people are asking for."
Lethco told the group that the preliminary plans were "a little bit radical" for Kroger and could include building an entirely new structure which would extend all the way to the sidewalks along Euclid Avenue to the north and Marquis Avenue to the west. To compensate for the lost parking spaces, a one-level parking lot could be installed on the roof of the new facility, with a ramp to access the area placed toward the rear of the structure. Lethco said if this design were to occur, the rooftop parking area probably would not be covered, to help assuage any apprehensions customers could have to using a parking garage.
Kroger purchased the adjacent vacant lot on Marquis Avenue behind its Euclid facility in October 2009. While other neighboring and nearby property owners had been conferred with regarding the future project, Lethco said that with the way things are situated on the preliminary plans now, no additional property would need to be acquired.
"Everything fits within our existing property today," he said, "without getting any other property."
One of the chief concerns expressed by CCBO members -
many of whom own businesses in the nearby vicinity of the grocery -
was the possibility of a Kroger gas station being included in the expansion. They worried that such a service could disrupt the integrity of the neighborhood and commercial district, as well as thwart recent initiatives to make the area more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Lethco said that while adding a gas station is always an attractive addition to any Kroger remodel project, within the current property framework, such a service would not be attainable. The preliminary plans, however, do include a drive-thru pharmacy toward the rear of the facility.
The new structure's design and building materials were also a concern among CCBO members, especially since the preliminary plans call for long, street-side exterior walls. Lethco said Kroger management was "very conscious of the area," but, regarding the style of the future building, nothing would be determined before the preliminary plans were even approved by Kroger corporate offices. Lethco hopes to present the plans to the corporate offices before the end of this year.
Pending corporate approval, Lethco said the plans would then be scrutinized by the staff of the city's Division of Planning -
a process he said that could take six to eight months. He said because of the magnitude and scope of the project, and the rigorous approval process, Kroger wouldn't anticipate any construction to take place until 2013.
Prior to presenting the final preliminary plans to Kroger corporate offices for approval, Lethco said his preference was to solicit feedback on the plans from neighborhood groups and leaders to mitigate any potential community resistance.
"Whatever the neighborhood groups are that have an interest in this -
we'll meet in smaller meetings, [or] we can meet in bigger meetings," Lethco said.