West Chester accepts offer from Kroger for activity center

Sue Kiesewetter
·2 min read
West Chester Township trustees have agreed to sell the former actvity center, a 16,389-square-foot building ton Cox Road, to Kroger Limited Partnership for $1.9 million.
West Chester Township trustees have agreed to sell the former actvity center, a 16,389-square-foot building ton Cox Road, to Kroger Limited Partnership for $1.9 million.

WEST CHESTER TWP. – Kroger has 104 days to close on a deal to buy the township’s former Cox Road activity center at the corner of Cox and Tylersville roads.

Trustees on Tuesday agreed to sell the 16,389-square-foot building to Kroger Limited Partnership I for $1.9 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kroger has to give the township $200,000 in earnest money that it will lose if the deal falls through.

“I’m only one of three trustees but if they don’t follow through then I’m going to move on and say you had your chance and I’m going somewhere else,’’ said Mark Welch, chairman of the West Chester Township Board of Trustees.

This is the second time Kroger has put in a bid on the activity center. Regency Centers Acquisition LLC, on behalf of Kroger, entered into a purchase agreement with the township in September 2019 so that it could build a Kroger Marketplace.

It would have replaced a smaller, nearby Kroger on Tylersville Road. That deal – which was contingent on acquiring nearby properties – fell through after two years.

"Kroger is proud to bring a fresh and friendly customer experience to the area and look forward to working with the trustees to serve the residents of West Chester Township,” said Jenifer Moore, corporate affairs manager, Cincinnati/Dayton division of Kroger.

“The (Tylersville Road) store is undersized, it’s old,” said broker Ryan Ertel, who worked on both purchase offers.

“The goal has always been to figure out a way to right-size that store. This is just one of the many steps to hopefully get to that end.”

The purchase agreement comes five weeks after Quattro Development backed out of a deal to purchase the building for $2.25 million.

Earlier this month trustees tabled a $1.9 million lease to buy offer by RS Professionals LLC to purchase the center for Dr. Muhamed Aziz, for medical offices. A previous agreement with Aziz fell through at the end of May.

The building has been empty since 2019 after the non-profit Community First decided not to renew its lease to manage the center and provide senior citizen programming along with other community activities there. Prior to that, it was used as the township’s branch of MidPointe Library.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: West Chester accepts offer from Kroger for activity center