Kroger has officially broken ground on a $37 million construction project to expand the Cold Spring Kroger near Northern Kentucky University.
The store, located at 70 Martha Layne Collins Blvd., is replacing the existing 40-year-old Kroger with a new 130,000-square-foot Marketplace. In addition, Kroger will add an 8,000-square-foot wine and spirits shop, an 18-pump fuel center, a pharmacy drive-through, Starbucks, Murray’s Cheese Shop, kitchenware, clothing and expanded grocery offerings.
Currently, the Martha Layne Collins Kroger functions as a main grocery store for many residents in Cold Spring, Highland Heights, Wilder and students attending NKU.
On Monday, officials from Kroger, the City of Cold Spring, and Northern Kentucky University celebrated the groundbreaking of the project.
“Today really does mark a significant step in bringing an expanded shopping experience to this region of Northern Kentucky,” said Jay Cannon, president of Kroger’s Cincinnati/Dayton division. “We have proudly served this area for over 40 years, and if you’ve been in our facility, you know it’s about 40 years old and it’s ready to be replaced.”
In April, Cold Spring City Council authorized the required zoning changes with a 4-1 vote, enabling the project to proceed. Prior to that, the Cold Spring Planning and Zoning Commission recommended reclassifying the 19.7-acre site from a residential and shopping zone to a mixed-use planned development zone. This change permits a complete demolition and reconstruction of the existing Kroger, based on previous LINK nky reports.
At the authorization meeting, Kroger Zoning Consultant Ann McBride said the renovation project is supported by internal market research, noting growth around Northern Kentucky University and the city since the original store was built in 1988.
Cold Spring Mayor Angelo Penque remarked that the city government and many of his constituents are excited for the revamped Kroger.
“We’ve been working on this for quite a while,” he said. “I can tell you that the city is excited about it. I know that a lot of us who live here love this store, but we’re gonna like this one better.”
Cady Short-Thompson, the president of NKU, mentioned that since Kroger is the nearest grocery store to the school geographically, the project will enhance access to food and other essential resources for students and community members.
“We are excited about this new development right here in NKU’s backyard, because this store expansion is going to increase access to food and necessities for the entire NKU community and the region around us, and that is something that Kroger has been helping NKU with for years,” she said.
The project arrives at a critical point for Kroger in Northern Kentucky, as Florida-based grocer Publix has made significant investments in upcoming stores across the area. In Campbell County, Publix will be the anchor store for the Cold Spring Pointe development, with construction already in progress. Publix will be less than half a mile from the Crossroads Blvd. Kroger and under five miles from the Martha Layne Collins Kroger.
Recently, Kroger has made substantial investments in its Campbell County operations. This includes transforming an empty Thriftway in west Newport into a new store and committing to building a 122,912 square feet Kroger Marketplace on Alexandria Pike.
This story includes reporting from LINK nky’s Haley Parnell.
