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Meijer has pulled its request to rezone a section of the property on which it wanted to build a huge store in the Glendale area, throwing the future of the project into question.
IBJ first reported last month that the Michigan-based retailer wanted to build a 200,000-square-foot store on a large swath of property on the southwest corner of 56th Street and Keystone Avenue. Meijer was set to present its plans for the first time Thursday afternoon, to the Metropolitan Development Commission’s hearing examiner.
Meijer had filed to rezone nearly an acre along East 56th Street just north of the Lockhart Automotive service and used-car dealership to allow for commercial development. To make way for the store, the Glenstone Apartments at 2215 E. 56th St. would have been torn down.
However, Meijer pulled its request to rezone the site prior to the meeting, according to Department of Metropolitan Development officials.
The company’s current plans for the site are unknown. A Meijer spokesperson didn’t return a phone call seeking comment.
A site plan for the Meijer project showed that the store also would occupy the site of Lockhart Automotive at the southwest corner of 56th and Keystone, as well as the Butler Kia dealership at 5500 N. Keystone Ave. Meijer had placed those properties under contract, according to an IBJ source familiar with the project.
Neighbors in the area were concerned about the additional traffic Meijer would have brought to the area.
Meijer has 10 stores in the metropolitan area and has been planning others. One of its stores would have anchored a proposed mixed-use project on city-owned land near 16th and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. streets. But developer Opus Development Corp. scrapped its plans last year after it was unable to purchase a series of nearby homes that would have been demolished to make its plan work.
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