Central Topeka Grocery Oasis to lease land from GraceMed for planned grocery store

Keishera Lately, Topeka Capital-Journal
·4 min read
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The building GraceMed is housed in at 1400 S.W. Huntoon St. was once a Dillons grocery store. A lease agreement signed Thursday morning will see GraceMed lease an acre of land at S.W. 12th and Washburn, north of GraceMed clinic, to the Central Topeka Grocery Oasis Group for a new grocery store building.
The building GraceMed is housed in at 1400 S.W. Huntoon St. was once a Dillons grocery store. A lease agreement signed Thursday morning will see GraceMed lease an acre of land at S.W. 12th and Washburn, north of GraceMed clinic, to the Central Topeka Grocery Oasis Group for a new grocery store building.

A new agreement for a grocery store in central Topeka has been established.

After the former Dillons, 1400 S.W. Huntoon closed its doors seven years ago, it left residents of the central Topeka neighborhood with nowhere to shop for fresh produce. GraceMed Capitol Family Clinic, purchased the then-vacant building and opened the facility almost two years later.

Residents said Dillions served as the only full-service grocery store in the entire central Topeka area. The Capital-Journal reported in 2021 that leaders of Central Topeka Grocery Oasis Group and GraceMed were working on a location for a new grocery store, and they were still early in the planning process.

Now, after years of effort to get a grocery store in central Topeka, a key step was finalized Thursday.

Lease agreement between the two organizations signed Thursday

An agreement was signed Thursday for GraceMed Capitol Health Clinic to lease 1 acre of land at S.W. 12th and Washburn Street, North of GracesMed's Clinic to the Central Topeka Grocery Oasis group.

Central Topeka Grocery Oasis was formed in 2018 as a grassroots group with a mission of resolving the food desert and food insecurity that has existed in central Topeka. In 2020, the group became a nonprofit organization under community resources council umbrella.

Marge Ahrens, CTGO chair, said the group was grateful to GraceMed Health and those who have helped in the quest for a grocery store.

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"Our grassroots efforts for a grocery have gathered hardworking partners in the city, county and state focused on equity and state focused on equity, justice and health for our neighbors," Ahrens said. "We will need many hands and hearts to fulfill the mission."

Venus Lee, CEO of GraceMed, was glad to see the progress.

“Our goal has always been to impact the communities we serve positively,” Lee said. “For many years this neighborhood has been a food desert, without access to nutritious food, which is needed to achieve optimal health," she said in a statement. "For this reason, it has been vital for us to support CTGO in its quest to be an answer to this problem. GraceMed is excited to finalize this partnership, which will be a critical step in healing the community."

Tennessee Town, Old Town, Ward Meade and others will benefit

A new grocery store in the area would benefit eight neighborhoods.

That includes Central Park, Old Town, Tennessee Town, Ward Meade, Monroe, Chesney Park, Quinton Heights Steele and Historic Holliday Park.

Leaders said the new store will help serve about 12,000 central Topekans in removing food insecurity in the lower income area, where 30% of households fall below the federal poverty level. More than a third have less than $25,000 income.

The new store would be expected to recognize and respect WIC, SNAP and other-low-income food programs while offering community engagement.

"Almost half are people of color, many are elderly, and the area is home to about 900 veterans,' the Thursday release said. "Few have bank accounts or credit cards and nearly half lack internet service."

Numerous financial efforts have been made to help in bringing a new central Topeka grocery store

From left, Marc Galbraith, Marge Ahrens and Michael Bell led a conversation in 2020 about the possibility of bringing a new grocery store to central Topeka.
From left, Marc Galbraith, Marge Ahrens and Michael Bell led a conversation in 2020 about the possibility of bringing a new grocery store to central Topeka.

Since the closing of the former Dillions, CTGO leaders have contributed many hours to bringing a new grocery store, with the community's support along the way.

In early 2022 the group was awarded $95,000 from The Topeka Community Foundation for essential startup monies. On Nov. 15, the group received $628,00 in American Recovery Plan Act funds to purchase "sustainable refrigeration equipment" for the building.

In 2019, the group received a $12,500 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation to conduct a market study. They then received $3,700 grant funds from the Kansas Health Foundation through a grant to the Kansas Rural Center funds fresh local food for CTGO-sponsored community events.

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Central Topeka Oasis Group hopes to bring equity and social justice while reducing the cost and effort of procuring food for those often denied those essentials.

Lee said they hope the grocery store project provides a template for other areas of Topeka to embark on their own food insecurities.

"We pray that as this partnership grows, we will be able to develop a food voucher program for our patients, allowing them to embrace healthier eating habits," Lee said. "We strongly believe a grocery store in this neighborhood will significantly improve the lives of those here.

"I sincerely thank CTGO for their continued dedication to this shared vision."

Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Effort to return grocery store to central Topeka takes step with lease