ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- With all the road work on Five Mile Road and Beechmont Avenue, it’s sometimes hard to see through the dust and traffic to notice the progress made on the $162 million worth of construction underway.
But progress is there. Fresh Thyme and Mercy Health-Anderson Hospital are the first two projects set to open by the end of September. Other big projects will finish throughout the rest of the year, leaving the Kroger expansion rolling into 2017.
Expect traffic to get worse before it gets better, said Steve Sievers, Anderson Township assistant administrator for operations.
“It helps that most of (the projects) are opening one at a time,” Sievers said.
Here’s the latest:
Fresh Thyme, 7910 Beechmont Ave., will be the first project to officially open its doors with a grand opening on Aug. 31, said Fresh Thyme spokeswoman Carly Hostein. It’s the fourth store to open in the Cincinnati area.
Show up early on the 31st -- the store opens at 7 a.m. -- and be one of the first 250 shoppers to get a free bag of groceries, she said. Expect festivities through Sept. 3. Also, if you happen to drive by on Aug. 30, there will be a ribbon-cutting and friends and family event in the afternoon.
Mercy Health-Anderson Hospital at 7500 State Road has nearly completed its $74 million patient tower and renovation. The official ribbon-cutting for the hospital’s new glass tower will be Sept. 23. The public can get a peek inside the tower and facilities from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 25 during an open house, according to Nanette Bentley, director of public relations. The Forest Hills Foundation for Education also will be the first outside group to use the facility for its Soiree for Success on Sept. 24.
New features include windows that allow medical staff to check on patients without disturbing them before changing back to tinted glass for privacy and televisions behind glass panels to more easily clean rooms, Bentley said.
Ovation Theatre by Carmike Cinemas in the Anderson Towne Center will hopefully be showing movies by the end of the year, Sievers said. Ovation will feature nine cinemas with in-seat dining. Patrons will be able to dine and get a drink from the bar as well.
Crunch Fitness, near the theater in part of the old Kmart building, is also expected to open later this year.
And Bar Louie, on the north side of the Anderson Towne Center, will be in the same spot as the former TGI Friday’s, Sievers said. Both are expected to open later this year.
Kroger, 7580 Beechmont Ave., is expected to open its largest U.S. store here in the second half of 2017, said Patty Leeseman, public affairs manager for Kroger Cincinnati and Dayton. Kroger’s Fred Meyer brand stores in the western U.S. are still typically larger.
Once completed, the 155,000-square-foot store will be expanding its produce, deli and bakery areas but will also add a wine and growler bar, a separate wine and beer-tasting area and online shopping access, Leeseman said.
The Kroger project includes additional shops and restaurants in the Shoppes by Anderson Towne Center. Details are still to come.
