Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Whole Foods: Woo-hoo!


And finally, after all the speculation, word from Whole Foods themselves that they will build at 86th and Keystone. More to come but this from the IBJ:

Whole Foods Market today said it will build a 60,000-square-foot grocery at 86th Street and Keystone Avenue. The announcement follows a ruling last week by a Marion County judge upholding zoning for the project.

Residents of Driftwood Hills Neighborhood argued in a lawsuit filed in February that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission and the City-County Council violated state law when they approved rezoning for the project. But in his ruling, Marion Superior Court Judge Gary Miller wrote that the governmental bodies were well within their authority in giving their OK.

"There is evidence in the record indicating the proposed development will provide benefits to the public in terms of ... additional employment, an increased tax base and upscale diversity and selection to the local grocery market," the judge wrote.

Developer Paul Kite, of Zionsville-based PK Capital LLC, revamped the project several times in hopes of winning over neighbors. The revisions reduced the number of condos planned for the mixed-use project to 31. The grocery will be the first in the state for Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods. It operates more than 185 stores and has annual revenue topping $4.7 billion.

3 comments:

Brian D. said...

Just what 86th St needs, YET MORE DEVELOPMENT!!!

Yeah for Whole Foods coming to town. I wish they could have redeveloped someplace like 71st and Binford, Glendale Mall, Eastgate, or some place that already had dying commercial properties.

86/82nd at numerous times of day is too crowded and rush hour is a huge parking lot.

Anonymous said...

roger that. I'd rather drink two buck chuck then drive up to 86th street. The only time I can stand the traffic is on sat/sun morning. Not a bad time to shop, I guess.

when is Sunflower (or anyone else) opening a grocery downtown??? Save us from O'Malia's please!

Anonymous said...

The problem, as I understand it from people in the business, is that Indiana already has more grocery stores per capita than is feasible. Marsh closing some stores wasn't an unforeseen development. But the word I'm hearing is that grocery store biz people say downtown is right on the numbers with O'Malia's and the 16th St. Kroger and there's no room to grow.

Don't forget the Arthur's Fresh Market at the old Atlas space which will pretty much take over my needs, plus Sunflower helps. I agree, the downtown O'Malia's sucks.

Kroger is planning to renovate and expand on 16th St. but they won't do anything until Center Township and the Drummer cabal stop holding them hostage for a mixed use development there via the King St. neighborhood association. Something may have moved on this in the past couple of months, but as I understand it, the project is stalled out for now but won't be forever.

Also remember that Whole Paycheck, I mean, Whole Foods isn't probably a place you'd want to shop everyday.

re: Binford -- WF was already concerned about whether Indy had the demo it needed to support a store. It makes total sense to me that they'd choose the 86th st. corridor by Fashion Mall over 71 and Binford. While we see it as convenient, it's not a fit -- especially if you've ever seen locations for any other WF stores. They're all in upscale neighborhoods or upscale urban settings. They also come in with upscale development -- I've yet to seen one used as an anchor in trying to bring an area up (as they're trying to do at 71/Binford). It doesn't fit with what has appeared to be their coprorate strategy so far.