On Monday, the city of Fort Thomas hinted at a possible “large grocery store” chain going on Memorial Parkway, but by Friday, the deal had lost its momentum.
At a June 2 Fort Thomas City Council meeting, city administrator Matt Kremer announced the sale of a 6.8-acre parcel of the Carlisle Park property for $650,000. Although the city declined to name the business, the project was said to be handled by Cincinnati-based developer STNL Development, which is currently developing a property in Owensboro for a Publix grocery store.
Fort Thomas Councilmember Andy Ellison told LINK nky that the deal would have to be done through a municipal order, but that it most likely doesn’t have the votes to come to fruition. The city council would have to vote on the municipal order allowing the mayor to enter a contract with the development company. If there’s not enough votes, there’s no project.
“I’m pretty confident that there’s enough no’s to where it wouldn’t pass, where it may not even make it to the agenda,” Ellison said.
A municipal order is a binding official act of a municipality’s legislative body that deals with internal matters and is enforceable but not as broadly as an ordinance.
“My belief is that the city of Fort Thomas is very proud to call itself a city within a park,” Ellison told LINK. “The value that the green space brings far outweighs any revenue that we would get from a project like this.”
During Monday’s council meeting, Kremer noted that since the park was donated by philanthropist Wayne Carlisle in 2021, the city has grappled with drainage, grading and access concerns on the property. Plans for park amenities had been set aside while research was conducted to determine the site’s stability.
In 2024, a geotechnical analysis of the land was conducted, and Kremer said that to address the issues and stabilize the area, the city is estimated to incur costs between $415,000 and $845,000.
As for what’s next for the property, Ellison said the city has in its budget for next year to fix some drainage issues on the site.
“We haven’t decided exactly what to do with it, but for the time being, we plan on just maybe planting some trees and making it green space,” Ellison said.