Ron Maxey

ron.maxey@commercialappeal.com

The eagerly anticipated Trader Joe's in Germantown could be open as soon as late summer after the city's Planning Commission Tuesday evening unanimously approved modifications sought by the developer of the project expected to house the California-based grocer.

Brody Glenn, president of Centennial American Properties, would not identify Trader Joe's as a tenant, either during the Planning Commission meeting or in remarks afterward. He said those announcements would be left to individual retailers when they choose to do so.

The city, however, identified Trader Joe's by name in statements both before and after Tuesday's Planning Commission action. In a statement released after the meeting, the city said Planning Commissioners approved changes for "the development intended to house the Germantown Trader Joe's location." The statement added that the modifications would allow "Trader's to arrive in Germantown more quickly."

And "more quickly," according to the timeline laid out by Glenn, would apparently mean late summer. Glenn said he expects work to begin in 90 to 120 days with the center ready for its first tenants to open by late summer.

City officials, as well as patrons starved for grocery shopping options, have been anticipating the chain's entry into the Memphis market since plans for a Germantown store were confirmed in September 2015. Trader Joe's announced last June it would open in 2017 but offered nothing more specific.

Mayor Mike Palazzolo, who also wasn't shy about naming names, said after the vote that a "premier retailer" is a step closer to coming to the city.

"Our residents and those in the Memphis region look forward to the presence of Trader Joe's in the market," he said.

Glenn said negotiations are in progress with multiple retail tenants.

Centennial, based in Greenville, South Carolina, asked the Planning Commission for permission to locate the tenant thought to be Trader Joe's within the existing building of the old Kroger on Exeter Road rather than in an outparcel to be constructed on the property. Moving Trader Joe's into the existing building will allow the store to open more quickly, according to the city.

The city's Design Review Commission still must consider facade plans, possibly as early as Jan. 24, followed by final approval in the form of a development agreement from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

"We are excited to get started, and our tenants are eager to dig in and get open in 2017," Glenn said.

A building permit application filed in early December with the Memphis-Shelby County Office of Construction Code Enforcement hinted that movement on the project was at hand, and the requested modifications now clear up uncertainty left by the permit request. The changes requested in the permit called for modifying the front wall of the existing Kroger building at 2130 Exeter "to create a new look on the front facade." The application also wanted to make "interior modifications (shell only) for Trader Joes (sic) and future ... tenants." The work carried a $2.5 million price tag.

The application did not, however, make clear that Trader Joe's would not be in the planned 19,500-square-foot outparcel. Originally, Trader Joe's was expected to occupy about 12,500 square feet of that building, and the existing Kroger building was to be subdivided into three bays.

Now, the modifications call for the tenant expected to be Trader Joe's to use space on the north end of the existing building, with remaining space to be divided into as many as seven additional retail bays.

Centennial still plans to move forward with an outparcel building as a future Phase 2, with 19,000 square feet of retail space. That building, designed to face Exeter, will be built under the guidelines of Germantown's Smart Code planning.

The site is across Poplar to the north of the Whole Foods that opened last year. Kroger moved from the longtime Exeter location to the larger site of the former Schnucks grocery on Farmington.