fresh produce

Developers looking to demolish the former Michigan Athletic Club building plan to bring in a grocery store heavy on produce.

(file photo)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – After demolishing the former Michigan Athletic Club, developers plan to build an 85,000-square-foot mixed-use retail development featuring a Fresh Thyme Farmers Market grocery store.

CWD Real Estate has applied for a permit to demolish the former health club facility that sits on land it bought last year at 2500 Burton St. SE, across from Breton Village Mall. The developer announced Thursday, Aug. 14, that Fresh Thyme will anchor the project at the site.

The development also will include retail stores, restaurants “and maybe a small residential component,” CWD spokeswoman Lisa Young said. CWD said it expects to submit a site plan later this month.

Fresh Thyme details touts itself as a produce-focused grocer "offering fresh, healthy and natural food at great prices." Here's a weekly ad for its Deerfield, Ill. store.

Fresh Thyme has stores open in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and plans to open one next year in East Lansing.

RELATED:

• Arizona-based Fresh Thyme Market to replace Goodrich's Shop Rite in East Lansing

• Michigan Athletic Club proposed for demolition

Based on the typical size of a Fresh Thyme market, the store would take up about one-third of the proposed development in Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids Planning Commission on Thursday, Aug. 28, will consider a request from CWD to tear down the former MAC building. A request for approval of the redevelopment site plan would come after that.

CWD hopes the new development can begin construction before the end of the year, managing partner Scott Wierda said in a prepared statement.

The Arizona-based Fresh Thyme plans to open 50 stores in 12 Midwestern states over the next seven years.

Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.