Downtown Roch. grocery, apt. complex grinding ahead

Now Friday's groundbreaking is in the past, so the downtown demolition is rolling in high gear at Rochester's First Avenue and Sixth Street S.W. this morning.

This is the Metropolitan Market Place project, a four-story apartment complex with the new People’s Food Co-op grocery store based on the main level.

The La Crosse, Wis.-based Gerrard Corp. is building the project.

The 62 apartments are expected to ready for tenants possibly by August 2013.

In today's paper, Edie Grossfield followed up with People's Food Co-op for more details on that piece of the project.

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Co-op manager Liz Haywood said members of the Historic Southwest and Slatterly Park neighborhood associations expressed their excitement during the ground breaking.

"It's going to be amazing," Haywood said. "We've spent a lot of time during the past few weeks talking with people in the area and there's a lot of interest in natural, fresh and locally sourced food."

However, the neighbors will have to wait, probably until August 2013, when the Metropolitan Market Place is expected to be completed. Being developed by Gerrard Corp., of La Crosse, Wis., the building will include four floors of apartments above the retail space.

The new store in Rochester will be about 26,000 square feet, compared to the existing store's 7,000 square feet. The largest expansion will be in the delicatessen area, Haywood said.

"We'll still have a hot bar and salad bar, but it will be greatly expanded," Haywood said. "We'll have rotisserie chickens, a cut-to-order meat department. Our meat sales have been growing … and we'll have full-service cheese, too."

The expansion of the co-op, especially the deli and meat department, will require an additional 50 employees beyond the current 35, she said.

Comments

[Intheknow]

Grocery there and then the new Fareway coming in by Best Buy. Grocery business is heating up in Rochester again.

[Mike]

Fareway is coming? love them-what Bestbuy-North? Jeff any word on this?

[Jeff Kiger]

Mike - Hang tight. I have something cooking on that tip. Might have something yet this afternoon.

[Tom Sanger]

Having rented the apartment above the vacuum shop for 4.5 years I will certainly miss the old place when visiting Rochester in the future (was transferred to Jacksonville) but "progress" is necessary.