TULSA--A group of investors appears to be interested in opening a supermarket at the site of the Albertson’s store on N. Peoria Avenue.Michael Bunney, economic development director of the city of Tulsa, confirmed the interest last week, but a real estate development agent indicated that it may be premature to identify the investors.
“We’re trying to keep under the radar until the deal is completed,” Katie Plohocky, who represents the investors, said.
The investors must now make a cash offer, as well as the name of a prospective grocer with north Tulsa experience, the real estate development agent said.
The agent asked the Tulsa Development Authority last week to extend a reversion clause in the land contract it has with Albertson’s on the nearly 17.5 acre site.
The authority sold Albertson’s the land in 2001, and the company opened the Peoria Avenue store in 2003, its eighth in the Tulsa market.
Last year, the grocery store operation either sold its Oklahoma stores or closed them. The chain sold seven of its eight Tulsa grocery stores, and closed the Peoria Avenue store.
After that, two grocery store prospects surfaced, but neither succeeded.
Albertson’s contract to buy the land says that, if development on the property has not occurred by Nov. 2009, the land reverts back to the authority.
Mrs. Plohocky told the authority that investors want the entire site, but cannot close the deal with Albertson’s and get development started on the undeveloped area by the deadline in the reversion clause.
The investors asked that the clause be extended for five years to allow the group to focus first on the grocery store, Mrs. Plohocky said, as well as on other work needed in the developed area before moving to the undeveloped area.
About half the property (8.5 acres) is undeveloped.
Members of the authority said they would prefer a two-year or three-year extension with triggers in place that would allow time to be extended if certain thresholds are met.
“We don’t want to be sitting here holding land for five years,” Carl Bracy, chairman of the authority, said, “and, in the end, have no development.”
Mrs. Plohocky said the key to successfully developing the undeveloped area is to have established foot traffic at the site.
She said a grocery store at the site will accomplish that.
Once the store is in place, she said, investors would then work on developing a “destination venue” for the undeveloped area.
She said a movie theater would be an example of such a venue, since they do not need visible frontage to be successful.
Mayor Kathy Taylor is very interested in getting a grocery store into the site, Mr. Bunney emphasized.
“I have been working on this since I was hired in March,” the city’s business development director, Mr. Bunney, said.
A survey by the Associated Wholesale Grocers indicates that a grocery store can be successful at the site, Mr. Bunney said.
