Freedom Mart opening @ Pine and Peoria

[RecycleMichael]

Still no sale/lease of the property...

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20080115_1_A1_spanc25481

Albertsons property attracting interest

By ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer
1/15/2008

Ruby Griffith used to do most of her grocery shopping at the Albertsons off North Peoria Avenue. Now, since the store's August closing, she said she travels all the way to Owasso's Wal-Mart. "It would be nice if they had a store in this area again," said Griffith, 67. "Then you wouldn't have to travel so far for just mayonnaise or anything like that."

However, recent signs of hope might mean that a new grocery store is coming soon. Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson said one group of prospective buyers of the property at 1601 N. Peoria Ave. held a job fair in late December to get a better view of the available workforce. "That's what we really need, a grocery store," Henderson said.

Richard Monaghan of EB Richard Ellis, the broker of the Albertsons property, confirmed the store had not been sold yet. However, he said there is interest from various groups. "There's a number of prospects evaluating the property," he said. Keen Realty will be auctioning off land adjacent to Albertsons next month, Monaghan said. The land is also owned by Albertsons, but the deal will be a separate transaction from the store property.

The group that hosted the December job fair was Trinity Grocery Investments LLC, a local investment group. Representatives of Trinity could not be reached for comment. The Albertsons property at Pine and Peoria has been a site for recent protests about the proposed Tulsa River Tax and the reappointment of Police Chief Ron Palmer. Unfortunately, it has not been the site of upstart businesses, said resident Charles Davis, 31. "A grocery store out here would be nice," he said. "I mean, look at north Tulsa. We have nothing . . . I hate it. I have to go all the way out south to go to the store. I would love a new store here."

Easier said than done, Henderson said. "That's my number one concern right now," Henderson said of bringing another grocer in to replace Albertsons. Councilor Roscoe Turner of District 3 declined to comment on the Albertsons. "I don't have anything to say about it right now," he said.

[RecycleMichael]

I guess the group never got their act together and signed a lease.

DoubleA called us all names when we questioned this, but we were right and he was once again wrong. He was probably just defending Roscoe.

Why is this not a campaign issue?

Why is no one questioning the company for having a job fair when they don't have jobs to fill?

What happened to the personal information of the hundreds of applicants?

[breitee]

Consider the source.

[Double A]

quote:Originally posted by RecycleMichael

I guess the group never got their act together and signed a lease.

DoubleA called us all names when we questioned this, but we were right and he was once again wrong. He was probably just defending Roscoe.

Why is this not a campaign issue?

Why is no one questioning the company for having a job fair when they don't have jobs to fill?

What happened to the personal information of the hundreds of applicants?

I never said this was a done deal. I knew this was a long shot. The point I was making is that the people who usually cheer lead for every bogus plan the GOB network puts forward suddenly became naysayers and cynics. I guess this wasn't GOB endorsed. BTW, if da Mare and the EDC hadn't been preoccupied with moving into her new crystal castle to artificially inflate occupancy rates downtown by taking empty office space off the market to help real estate owners who didn't need it on the taxpayer's dime, maybe they could have handled this proactively(you know that B.S. buzzword they love to bandy about) instead of getting caught unaware(not even remotely proactive) so this important TIF district wouldn't have been left without an anchor. BTW, how's da Mare's Working In Neighborhoods department going? I'm still waiting to hear when or if those quadrant representative positions that have been budgeted are staffed.