Small-format Meijer store to break ground at 1401 E. Jefferson

UPDATE: May 13, 2020 Small-format Meijer store to break ground at 1401 E. Jefferson.

A small-format Meijer store on East Jefferson could become the first new high-profile Detroit development to break ground since the coronavirus pandemic brought the economy to a standstill.

Businessman Dennis Archer Jr., son of former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, said Tuesday that he and his development partners hope to start construction of the 42,000-squarefoot grocery story within 60 days for a summer 2021 opening.

==========================
Could hold a few hundred HQ2 employees. :) Ah, just tossing that out for fun...

A little O/T but how are the Walmart plans on Woodward near Mack?

Would be nice to have a Walmart and Meijer [[plus the existing Whole Foods) in downtown or Midtown.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article..._medium=social

Side issue to the little bit OT ... whatever happened to the grocery store over there somewhere that the owner was posting here all the time trying to drum up business? I don't even remember the store name, but it was a couple of years or so back.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Meddle

Side issue to the little bit OT ... whatever happened to the grocery store over there somewhere that the owner was posting here all the time trying to drum up business? I don't even remember the store name, but it was a couple of years or so back.

---

The name of the storefront is Lafayette Foods, a Spartan products store. He didn't say the name of the storefront right away. Later announced that it was part of the Spartan food group. This so called Meijer concern me being that it might not be called Meijer but another name. Also, the Spartan Foods business control the politicians in Detroit and will use that elected official including district councilperson to make sure that those new stores will either sell outdated Spartans produce or will not take business from the other stores such as Parkway, Lafayette Fpods, and Indian Village Market

I like what I see so far.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by emu steve

A little O/T but how are the Walmart plans on Woodward near Mack?

Would be nice to have a Walmart and Meijer [[plus the existing Whole Foods) in downtown or Midtown.

---

You mean the Target plans? I'd hate to see a Walmart open there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ekleezy

You mean the Target plans? I'd hate to see a Walmart open there.

---

Yes. Memory went foggy over the months...

This will definetly help get East Jefferson back on its feet. E Jefferson today is probably the best retail corridor for its length out of the main radial avenues. Grand River has been decimated in Petosky-Otsego and NW Goldberg, and Gratiot pretty much sucks from Eastern Market until Regent Park. But E Jeff is pretty stable the whole way, except for a few rough patches.

After the renovation, I can see hipsters and developers alike start to migrate down to Rivertown. The corridor in a decade or so will be very gentrified and a lot of new residents will live in the many housing options in the area. Now maybe, just maybe, they will move to Lafayette Park when they have kids instead of hightailing it out to the exurbs.

Jefferson has great potential to be a strip lined with stores such as Kroger, Meijer, Art Van, Traders Joe, Trek, Starbucks, etc. The Avenue could be a nice scenic avenue great for cycling and cruising.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Jefferson has great potential to be a strip lined with stores such as Kroger, Meijer, Art Van, Traders Joe, Trek, Starbucks, etc. The Avenue could be a nice scenic avenue great for cycling and cruising.

---

Jefferson has good neighborhoods directly to the north for the most part, valuable land to the south, lots of places people want to be [[River Walk, Chene Park, Atwater, Belle Isle, etc), and lots of close development already coming down the pipe. I can definitly see it becoming more and more a hot corridor for retail and residential development.

the former Blaine hospital at 2151 e. Jefferson property could be demolished and turned into an apartment/retail complex. In recent years, it housed a nonprofit, a chiropractic clinic and the Detroit police department's gaming [[Casinos) division.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by K-slice

Jefferson has good neighborhoods directly to the north for the most part, valuable land to the south, lots of places people want to be [[River Walk, Chene Park, Atwater, Belle Isle, etc), and lots of close development already coming down the pipe. I can definitly see it becoming more and more a hot corridor for retail and residential development.

---

The other asset - and I know some will laugh but I mean this - is a really strong plan and vision for the east riverfront and Jefferson Corridor overall. It seems like the potential in all the assets you list may actually be taken advantage of in a really strong way if even part of the planning influences development.

Between this and Stone Soap I think you are starting to see some real interest in the are and are a clear indication that the corridor is about to take off. I wonder how far along the plans are for the GM owned properties in the area.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by southen

Between this and Stone Soap I think you are starting to see some real interest in the are and are a clear indication that the corridor is about to take off. I wonder how far along the plans are for the GM owned properties in the area.

---

Wonder if GM is slow walking plans until they know for certain about HQ2?

Kind of like, "Let's wait 6 months to see what Amazon plans to do. If Detroit gets passed by we can continue with our plans."

P.S. Will Amazon slowly leak out names of cities who didn't make first or second cut???

I think it may have more to do with the fate of 375 and how it might change the area through a connection to the riverfront than Amazon. They likely wouldn't start everything all at once anyway and given that residential will play a major role regardless they probably could start on some of the land if they wanted to.

The preliminary architectural renderings depict an excellent use of the site. It appears that the building's southern elevation will take advantage of E. Jefferson’s upcoming road diet reconfiguration by utilizing a zero lot line footprint. This is a very pedestrian and bicycle friendly choice. Normal in other urban areas, but not in Detroit. Hopefully this choice will encourage similarly styled development of other E. Jefferson sites. The more intensely and densely E. Jefferson is developed, the better for the city’s tax base, and the more likely an investment in upgraded mass transit on the corridor can be made.


One other note. This E. Jefferson site is exactly the kind of location where the city should be seeking out stick built multi-story buildings. This proposed [[stick-built) building has great scale and presumably the developer can make a bunch of money on the project. This is not what is happening on the Statler site. There, the developer will probably make some money. The city, however, gets stuck with a huge missed opportunity.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by emu steve

Wonder if GM is slow walking plans until they know for certain about HQ2?

Kind of like, "Let's wait 6 months to see what Amazon plans to do. If Detroit gets passed by we can continue with our plans."

P.S. Will Amazon slowly leak out names of cities who didn't make first or second cut???

---

Haha yeah, they've been slow walking for about thirty years now...

BTW, the project has been officially announced. Completion in 2019.

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...oit/802398001/

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...o-open-in-2019

groundbreaking in the spring, I guess?
how deep will this have to go for the underground parking?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by emu steve

BTW, the project has been officially announced. Completion in 2019.

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...oit/802398001/

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...o-open-in-2019

---

Great news for Detroit; I'm completely unimpressed with the majority of the independent grocers in Detroit. Sky high prices, selling outdated food items - I'm talking to you U.S. Quality Foods, with your dimly lit aisles. Glory Supermarkets is cool - they clearly mark outdated items that they have on sale. However, none of these markets can compete with Meijer, let alone a national grocer like Kroger, still travel a bit to get to my closest Kroger.

Someday the progress of Detroit might not be marked by things like number of casinos, stadiums, etc. but by the number of supermarkets across Detroit.

Building more supermarkets is indicative of the growing economic health of the residents [[and neighborhoods) in the city.

Show me an neighborhood with a new grocery chain store and I'll show you a neighborhood getting stronger.

Thank goodness the Yon members can now grocery shop across the street before they head home.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GPCharles

Thank goodness the Yon members can now grocery shop across the street before they head home.

---

Shhhh! The Yon is not to be spoken of outside of the clubhouse. Keep your bazoo shut.

This development is the site of the magnificent University Club and the Somerset Apartments. May they both rest in peace.

That block between Jefferson and Larned is so extremely narrow. How are they going to fit a grocery, apartments, and parking in such narrow space?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by masterblaster

That block between Jefferson and Larned is so extremely narrow. How are they going to fit a grocery, apartments, and parking in such narrow space?

---

It looks like the grocery store part will be roughly the same size as whole foods, and tucked in the southwest corner of the site. So about half of the site will be parking, with the apartments above, and underground parking below.

The first rendering, of the main entrance, is actually halfway through the block, it isn't the corner of the building. The renderings sort of hide how much of the ground floor is parking, but I think it's a fine solution to the problem.

I really like this development. I think as the city continues to grow- and the rebirth extends further out of central downtown/midtown- the city could support in the neighborhood of 10 or 12 Meijer stores [[or Walmarts or Targets; I'd like a mix of all 3, both for the variety and healthy competition).