Carmack-Jay’s site still awaiting development; city officials mum on inquiries

Sitting vacant for nearly two decades, the old Carmack-Jay’s grocery store property at 331 N. Market Street narrowly missed an opportunity for development once again when Common Market representatives dropped plans to open a second store there.

City Economic Development Director Richard Griffin said the site is still receiving plenty of attention, though.

“I say we get a call every other week form an entity interested in that facility,” he said on Wednesday. “And we pass those interested parties over to the company that owns the building and over to Mackintosh Realtors that represents the building.”

Jim Mackintosh, owner of Mackintosh Realtors, confirmed on Wednesday that he has received inquiries. He declined to elaborate, explaining that he will not publicly reveal any information about they site’s future development until he has a signed lease.

Today, a 37,725-square-foot building currently sits on the property, which has not been occupied in almost 20 years and has consistently received complaints for contributing to the city’s blight problem. The site contains challenges for a future developer, especially a grocer, including its long-term vacancy and the lack of accessibility for large trucks that a modern food store would require.

According to a city-issued fact sheet, the building on the site was constructed in 1959 and renovated in 2002 when Douglas Development bought it along with the surrounding land. The Carmack-Jay’s supermarket operated in the building from 1973 to the early 1990s. In 1995, the city bought the property and proceeded to sell it to Tesoro Food Mart in 1996, which operated a store there until 1998. That was the last time the building had a tenant, according to the fact sheet.

The current owner is listed as Jemal’s Carmack-Jay’s LLC, in care of Douglas Development.

— Mallory Panuska