- The proposed Union Collective would redevelop the former IGA into a two-story food hall featuring five food vendors, indoor and outdoor dining, a bar and seating for up to 450 patrons.
- Union officials requested a traffic impact study, additional drainage information and greater clarity on the project’s tenant mix before moving forward.
- Commissioners questioned how the development would differentiate itself from existing restaurants at Union Promenade and other nearby businesses.
An Indianapolis-based developer wants to build a food hall concept in Union that would host several different vendors.
Doug Franklin, senior project manager at the Alleato Group, presented the concept plan to the Union City Commission on Monday, July 20 for what he called the ‘Union Collective.’ According to its online portfolio, the Alleato Group is responsible for another food hall project in Westfield, Indiana, a fast-growing suburban community north of Indianapolis.
Franklin described the proposed Union Collective as a 20,000-square-foot food hall planned for the vacant IGA grocery store at 10134 Old Union Rd. The venue would be two stories tall, with indoor space for five food vendors. Overall, Franklin said the facility would accommodate up to 450 occupants at full capacity and employ about 100 people, including about 40 full-time employees.
The first floor would be centered around the food vendors, bar, and communal dining area. Plans show that televisions will be set up across the first floor for patrons to view major sporting events. On the exterior, the Union Collective would feature 7,000 square feet of patio space on the first floor, in addition to another 7,000 square feet of shaded outdoor seating on the second floor. The venue will also feature a mix of seating arrangements, from lounge seating to high-top tables.
Franklin said the Alleato Group developed the concept after the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage communal gatherings.
“They felt like we lost the connection or the connectivity of the community, so they brought about this collective or this space where families can come to reconnect or share a meal, or watch sporting events, like a basketball game or a football game, to watch your favorite team,” Franklin said.
The presentation indicated that developers intend to preserve the wooded vegetation along the site’s northern and southern boundaries. They also plan to connect the property to the existing sidewalk network along U.S. 42 and to the planned multi-use trail on Old Union Road.
Franklin compared the vision for the Union Collective to its Westfield counterpart, with plans for the space to host vendors serving different cuisines, such as pizza, burgers and Mexican food. As of now, no food vendors have committed to the project.
However, Commissioner Kimberly Tuyn questioned how the Union Collective would truly differentiate itself from other neighborhood developments, particularly the Union Promenade, which already offers a diverse selection of foods.
“That would be a concern of mine, seeing what we’re seeing right now, as our Promenade gets filled up, and we’ve got Braxton, we’ve got Graders, we’ve got UDF, we’ve got lots of pizza, lots of Mexican – to me, there would need to be a differentiator, quite honestly, if something like this were to come to life, really versus competing against existing businesses selling the same types of food,” Tuyn said.
Traffic and infrastructure concerns were also key topics of discussion, with the commission requesting a formal traffic impact study to be conducted after school resumes in August, allowing engineers to gather accurate traffic volume data. The Union Collective proposed location is less than half a mile from Ryle High School, one of Kentucky’s largest public schools by enrollment.
Moreover, the commission questioned whether the existing drainage infrastructure and culverts could handle runoff from the largely paved development, even with the planned addition of a detention basin.
Following the presentation, the commission outlined several items they wanted the Alleato Group to address, including greater clarity on the potential tenant mix, a completed traffic study, and additional information on the site’s drainage and stormwater retention capacity.
