COLD SPRING, Ky. — The Kroger expansion at Martha Layne Collins in Cold Spring is moving forward after approval from city council.
The council held a second reading at a meeting on April 28, where the motion passed 4-1. The zone change was for 19.7 acres at 70 Martha Layne Collins Blvd., from a residential and shopping center zone to a mixed-use planned development zone that allows for a full tear-down and rebuild of the existing store in a Kroger Marketplace.
Cold Spring Councilmember Adam Sandfoss voted no. Councilmember Chris Ampfer was absent.
The project calls for rebuilding from a 60,662-square-foot store to a 131,000-square-foot store with a separate 8,000-square-foot wine and spirit shop, fuel center, pharmacy drive-through window and more. The Cold Spring Planning and Zoning Commission approved the development in February.
“I think a fuel center up there is neat,” said Cold Spring Councilmember Lisa Cavanaugh during the first reading of the vote on April 14. “There’s not really a whole lot of options up there in that part of town. A lot of people like to use Kroger fuel, and that might keep people from having to go up to Crossroads.”
Further project plans for the Kroger expansion can be found here.
Cold Spring Councilmember Steve Cunningham asked at the April 14th special meeting about the rumor that the Crossroads Boulevard Kroger, also located in Cold Spring, would become a distribution center.
Cold Spring City Attorney Brandon Voelker said Kroger just signed a new 10-year lease with the city for that location.
“That store is definitely not closing,” said Kroger Zoning Consultant Ann McBride. “It is not going to be turned into pickup only, as some stores have done.”
McBride said Kroger has done extensive market research, as they do before making a $35 million investment in a community, to ensure there is enough market share not only for their own stores but also for other stores such as Publix, which is also going into Cold Spring.
She said the original store was built in 1988. Since then, Northern Kentucky University, next door to the Martha Layne Collins location, has grown substantially, as has the city.
Kroger is also putting a new $35 million marketplace down the road in Alexandria.
The following improvements are in the plans regarding the intersection of Alexandria Pike (US 27) and Martha Layne Collins Boulevard for the project:
- Restripe the eastbound Martha Layne Collins Boulevard approach so that a shared left turn/through lane is provided and maintain the separate dedicated right turn lane.
- Widen Martha Layne Collins Boulevard to the west of Alexandria Pike (approximately 315 feet) to extend the eastbound shared left turn/through lane and dedicated right turn lane.
- Modify signal timing and phasing to split eastbound and westbound approaches and to provide a right turn overlap for the eastbound right turns so they operate concurrently with the northbound left turns.
- Widen Alexandria Pike to the north of Martha Layne Collins Boulevard (approximately 180 feet) to extend the southbound right turn lane.
As for the project’s timeline, McBride said Kroger is struggling to get some of the construction materials it needs, like electrical switchgear. Electrical switchgear refers to a centralized collection of circuit breakers, fuses, and switches. McBride said it takes around eight months to get that material.
“I used to be able to say it’s about a 14-month construction project from the time it starts to the time it opens,” she said. “I don’t want to make a false promise to any community, so for the last year and a half, I’ve been saying, ‘I just don’t know.’”
Construction is estimated to begin in the fall of 2025.
This story originally appeared on our partner's website LINK nky.
