City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee on June 10 approved development plans for Fourth and Race streets to build a downtown grocery store, a luxury apartment tower and a parking garage to replace Pogue’s Garage.
The project will cost $80 million. The city will provide $12 million through a five-year forgivable loan, and the rest — $68 million — will come from private financing.
The committee hearing largely focused on the downtown grocery store, which Odis Jones, the city’s economic development director, called the “next step” of the city’s overall plans to invigorate residential space and reduce office vacancy downtown.
Development company Flaherty and Collins will oversee the grocery store project, which was originally attached to the city’s plan to semi-privatize its parking assets.
The grocery store will be 15,000 square feet — slightly smaller than the Kroger store in Over-the-Rhine, which is 17,000 square feet — and open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will be run by an unnamed independent operator.
Flaherty and Collins CEO David Flaherty acknowledged it’s “a compact space,” but he said it will be a “full-service grocery store” with the essentials, including fresh produce.
The grocery store will be at the base of a new, 30-story residential tower, which will include 300 luxury apartments and a pool.
Across the street, the city will replace Pogue’s Garage, which city officials have long called an “eyesore,” with a new garage.
The seven Democrats on City Council voted in favor of the plan, with Independent Chris Smitherman and Republican Charlie Winburn abstaining.
