New grocery store planned for long-vacant anchor at east Louisville shopping center

Posted by author January 30, 2025 Shopping

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A new 50,000-square-foot grocery store and adjacent liquor store are planned for the Blankenbaker Plaza shopping center.
The project would replace a former Walmart Neighborhood Market that closed in 2018.
Florida-based Gordon Realty purchased the shopping center in 2022 and specializes in revitalizing underperforming retail spaces.

A new grocery development is eyed for a long-vacant spot at a Douglass Hills shopping center.

Developers are proposing a new construction 50,000-square-foot grocery at Blankenbaker Plaza shopping center, 201 Blankenbaker Parkway.

No specific grocer is named in development plans, filed Jan. 27 with the Louisville Metro Office of Planning.

Under the plan, the former Walmart Neighborhood Market that closed in 2018 would be demolished and replaced with a new grocery store. A 3,200-square-foot liquor store adjacent to the grocery is also part of the project.

Florida-based Gordon Realty, via Blankenbaker Plaza LLC, bought the retail center in 2022 for $10.4 million, deed records show.

The company focuses on “the repositioning of underperforming” retail shopping centers, according to the company’s website, which notes ownership of five other retail centers in Ohio, Illinois and Texas.

Stiles, a commercial real estate firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, is listed as the developer of the project. The company has invested, built and managed a slew of projects across multiple states, including apartment buildings, retail centers, office towers and Publix supermarkets.

A Stiles vice president declined to comment to The Courier Journal about the project.

The shuttered Walmart location was the main anchor of the 88,000-square-foot shopping center in eastern Jefferson County.

Built in 1999, the shopping center was originally home to a Winn-Dixie supermarket, whose space was taken over by a Walmart Neighborhood Market in 2007. Walmart closed the location along with two other Louisville stores, citing poor performance.

The new supermarket would join a handful of grocery developments that have recently opened across Louisville.

Publix opened a 56,000-square-foot store and adjacent 3,200-square-foot Publix Liquors in January 2024 – its first Louisville location. Kroger opened its 66,000-square-foot location on Ballardsville Road in September.

A 22,000-square-foot Aldi in Middletown and the city’s second location of The Fresh Market, at Paddock Shops, both opened in December 2024. A 103,000-square-foot new-to-market BJ’s Wholesale Club is opening in late January.

The nearest supermarket is a Kroger about 1.5 miles down Shelbyville Road.

Reach growth and development reporter Matthew Glowicki at mglowicki@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4000.