Teaming with retail urban pioneer Glazier Corp. is part of Kroger's strategy to enter urban markets, either in cities or nearby suburbs, explains Food 4 Less manager of real estate Mike Flickinger. The chain will open another store in the nearby Back of the Yards neighborhood at 47th Street and Damen Avenue, he told the city's community development commission.

The commission recommended a $2.3-million sale of 7.7 acres on Ashland Avenue between 69th and 71st streets, now owned by the Chicago Transit Authority to Food 4 Less Midwest and Glazier Corp. In addition to the Food 4 Less store and eight gasoline pumps, Glazier will built a 31,200-sf retail center that will likely include "high-quality clothing retailers" as well as other tenants typically found in a grocery-anchored center, says company president Josh Glazier.

The Food 4 Less "price warehouse" format has been used primarily on the West Coast, Flickinger says, but Chicago marks its debut east of the Mississippi River. Plans are to open "five to 10 stores a year," he adds.

"We're very excited about this project. We feel Englewood is an area that's been underserved for many years," Flickinger says.

Although community leaders have questioned the potential tenant mix of a center that could compete with others being built within a short distance to the northeast, Glazier downplayed those concerns. "Tenants are all making 10-year commitments to the site," he notes. "The philosophy is to get the right mix here."

The CTA is paying for remediation of soil contamination, expected to be completed before the sale closes. The site formerly was used as a bus barn.