Cincinnati’s new Kroger location at Court and Walnut streets will open Sept. 25, company officials announced.
It will be Kroger’s first downtown grocery store since a location on Race Street closed in 1969. The store will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, the company says.
Urbanists and elected city leaders have salivated at the idea of a downtown store for years, but before 2017 — when the project on Walnut was announced — the pieces had never come together.
A second-floor food court featuring Eli’s BBQ, Django Western Tacos, Dope Asian Street Fare, Cincy Whip and Kroger’s own Kitchen 1883 Cafe and Bar will also open Sept. 25.
The Cincinnati-based grocer partnered with the city to build a 45,000-square-foot, two-story store as part of a mixed-used development. That project also includes an 18-story, 139-unit market-rate apartment tower and a 550-space parking garage. North American Properties, NorthPointe Group and Rookwood Properties are developers on the project, GBBN serves as the architect and Turner Construction is the development’s general contractor.
Kroger says the store is meant to serve customers living in downtown, Over-the-Rhine, the West End and other nearby neighborhoods. The store will have a bar, food court and other novel amenities. Among the perks: a walk-up Starbucks window for pedestrians on the Court Street side of the store.
The almost $91 million project received an $8.5 million grant from a city fund that must be used for downtown development, $4 million from the Ohio Development Services Agency, $2.5 million in state and federal New Market Tax Credits, about $7 million from 3CDC, $19 million from Kroger and $42 million in private investment.
A nearby store in Over-the-Rhine on Vine Street will be torn down after the coming downtown store opens.
This article appears in Sep 4-11, 2019.