Trader Joe's plans are moving forward again. Here's what's happening

This article has been edited to clarify a comment by Tim Schmitt, Meridian Township director of community planning and development.

MERIDIAN TWP. — The 2.2 acres on Grand River Avenue and Northwind Drive where construction of the Lansing area's first Trader Joe's is expected to resume next month is now owned by Trader Joe’s East Inc., and the project is set to move forward once again.

The store's construction, stalled for more than seven months, should resume Oct. 2 — the township issued a permit in August allowing for the shell of the 13,500-square-foot building to go up — but it's unclear when the building will be finished or when Trader Joe's will open.

Updated property records for 2755 Grand River Ave. were recorded with Ingham County's Register of Deeds Office on Sept. 5. East Lansing-based Strathmore Real Estate Group, the development company initially behind the project, is no longer involved.

Minnesota-based Thomas Grace Construction is the project's new contractor. Messages left with Nathan Klump, the project manager, weren't returned.

In the meantime, don't expect officials or contractors working on the project to use the name Trader Joe's when they talk about the development — at least not until Trader Joe's officially announces the new store.

Trader Joe's hasn't officially announced store plans

Prior to late August, updates regarding the store on Meridian Township's website included the name "Trader Joe's." Now the store's name is no longer listed. The development is referred to only as a "specialty grocery store" because the township has been asked "not to disclose" the name of the property's end user, said Tim Schmitt, Meridian Township director of community planning and development.

"Working with Trader Joe's in the past in previous communities, they do not announce their project until they are ready because of exactly this type of scenario where a developer doesn't perform," Schmitt said. "When I say not perform, I mean that the building was not getting built under the permit originally issued.  I have no idea why construction stopped and I don’t mean to suggest that this was the fault of the developer.  The developer and end user agreed to a solution that allowed for a new permit to be issued."

Trader Joe's has not officially announced plans to open a store in the township.

The California-based retailer doesn't announce store opening early in their development, said Nakia Rohde, a Trader Joe’s public relations manager, in an email last week.

"We typically announce new stores a couple months before opening the doors for customers," she said.

All stores are announced on the company’s website.

Timeline for the store's completion unclear

The timeline for the store's construction and when it will open have not been announced.

The process for developing the store started in December 2021, with the Meridian Township Zoning Board of Appeals approving a variance to allow the specialty grocer to have 115 parking spaces on the property. By January, the store’s foundations were poured and protected for the winter months.

Schmitt said construction of the building's walls should get underway in early October, but he doesn't have a schedule for construction from Thomas Grace Construction.

"I've asked them for a schedule," he said. "They haven't provided it to me yet."

The store is expected to become Trader Joe's ninth location in Michigan. The company currently operates stores in Ann Arbor, Kentwood, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Hills, Grosse Pointe, Kalamazoo, Northville and Rochester Hills.

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @GrecoatLSJ .

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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Trader Joe's takes ownership of property where Lansing area store is planned