Oak Ridge Today

Council approves rezoning for Kroger Marketplace shopping center

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Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Note: This story was updated at 9:44 p.m.

A rezoning approved by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday could allow Kroger to move into a new store that would almost double its space.

The company has been interested in expanding in Oak Ridge for about four years, said Paul Xhajanka, Kroger real estate manager in Atlanta, Ga. However, that hasn’t been possible at the current site at South Illinois and Rutgers avenues due to space constraints and other tenants.

So, the company now plans to move a few miles north to a 25-acre development at the busy intersection of Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Council voted 6-0 on Monday to approve a rezoning for that $30 million shopping center, which would be anchored by a 113,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace.

As proposed, the shopping center would replace a neighborhood of about 55 homes, two hotels, a restaurant, day care center, and church. A handful of the homeowners who have agreed to sell their properties are considering whether to move their homes, Xhajanka said.

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Council considers Kroger, Weigel’s projects on Monday

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Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Oak Ridge officials on Monday will consider project approvals for two highly anticipated commercial developments on Illinois Avenue, one a Kroger Marketplace shopping center and the other a Weigel’s gas station and convenience store.

The $30 million Kroger shopping center would be built on about 25 acres at the busy intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue, but the land has to be rezoned.

The rezoning has already been endorsed by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, which unanimously recommended it in a 10-0 vote during a Sept. 27 meeting.

It now has to be considered by Oak Ridge City Council. Council will consider it on Monday in the first of two monthly votes, or readings.

The proposed site now includes more than 50 homes and duplex units, two hotels, a restaurant, and daycare on Iris Circle, Oak Ridge Turnpike, North Illinois Avenue, Robin Lane, and Ivanhoe, Raleigh, and Robertsville roads.

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President Obama signs spending measure that affects local centrifuge work

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President Obama recently signed a six-month federal spending measure with money for more work on the American Centrifuge research, development, and demonstration program, including in Oak Ridge, a USEC press release said.

The funding is part of the government’s $280 million, or 80 percent, share of the $350 million cost-share program with USEC Inc. It’s meant to prove America’s next generation of uranium enrichment technology and help national security and nuclear nonproliferation, the press release said.

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UCOR announces 21 more subcontractor layoffs

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UCOR announced that 21 staff support subcontractors were laid off Monday, and more subcontractor and trade jobs could be cut later this week.

“This is to restructure the workforce to meet our changing needs as work is completed, and also to stay within expected funding for Fiscal Year 2013,” the company said in a statement. “No UCOR employees are being affected.”

UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

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City manager offers economic optimism, says mall needs to move quickly

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Mark Watson State of the City

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, left, talks to Kay Brookshire and Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan.

Note: This story was updated at 9:50 a.m. Oct. 4.

With a boom in economic activity that includes billions of dollars worth of projects, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark S. Watson offered a dose of optimism about the city’s economic future on Tuesday, and he suggested commercial developments won’t be held up by the owners of the “inactive” Oak Ridge Mall or property owners who set sale prices too high.

Five retailers that might have wanted to locate at the mall are now talking to the developers of a $30 million Kroger Marketplace shopping center planned at the busy intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue, Watson said. He said the city and commercial developers are “going right on around” the privately owned, mostly empty mall, where redevelopment plans have languished for years.

“They’re starting to lose customers,” Watson said during an hour-long lunchtime speech to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. “They’re going to be left holding the bag if they don’t start moving—and moving quickly.”

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Wednesday seminar focuses on writing proposals for government contracts

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An all-day seminar Wednesday will provide tips and techniques to those writing proposals for government contracts.

The seminar runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Foundry, located at 747 World’s Fair Park Drive in Knoxville. The featured speaker is Kirste L. Webb, owner of PQC Solutions.

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalists agree to sell for Kroger development

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

The congregation of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to sell their building and 3.6 acres to the developers of a new Kroger shopping center.

Note: This story was last updated at 11:01 a.m. Oct. 1.

It was a difficult decision for many, but members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to sell their building and 3.6 acres to make way for a new Kroger development that could open in 2014.

There were 169 votes in favor of selling and 12 opposed. The vote to sell required a two-thirds majority, or 120 votes.

The sale price for the heavily used property—a serene, wooded tract in the heart of Oak Ridge—has not been publicly disclosed.

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Unitarian Universalist Church votes on whether to sell today

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

Members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church are scheduled to vote at 11:45 a.m. today on whether to sell their property to make way for a commercial development anchored by a Kroger Marketplace at the busy intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.

The church, also used for many community functions such as League of Women Voters events and Rotary Club meetings, is located on 3.6 acres just east of that intersection. The land could become part of the $30 million, 22-acre Kroger development’s outparcel space.

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Loudon company wants to use Alexander Inn as assisted living center

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A Loudon company has proposed converting the historic but run-down Alexander Inn in Oak Ridge into a $6 million, 60-unit assisted living senior center.

Family Pride Corp. has requested a 90 percent, 10-year tax property tax break on the three-acre site. Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board members will be briefed on the proposal Monday and consider recommending it to City Council during a special Oct. 11 meeting.

Family Pride would work with InSite Development Corp. of Knoxville to redevelop the two-story hotel, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project.

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‘Cash mob’ at The Epicurean on Saturday

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The Young Professionals of Oak Ridge has its next “cash mob” at The Epicurean on Saturday.

The YPOR’s quarterly cash mobs are designed to give an economic boost to a local business. Previous Young Professionals cash mobs have been held at Downtown Hardware, Mickey’s Produce, and J&M Butcher Shop.

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Free Friday workshop focuses on bank loans, small businesses

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A free workshop Friday at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will focus on bank loans for small businesses.

Topics will include the basics of financial statements and lender requirements for existing and start-up businesses. Small Business Administration loan guarantees will also be covered.

The speaker is Jutta Bangs, senior business specialist with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center.

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Manhattan Project apartments honored Thursday

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Oak Ridge officials, business leaders, and historic preservationists will honor an apartment complex built during the Manhattan Project, the top-secret World War II program to develop the world’s first atomic bombs.

The Thursday evening ceremony at the Rolling Hills Apartments will include city leaders, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.

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