Groundbreaking for a new grocery store at the Cleveland-Lakewood border is set in stone, and new stores are announcing they’re signing on.
Lucky’s Market at West 117th Street and Clifton Boulevard will break ground on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 4:00 p.m. A time capsule, buried in 1927, underneath the old Fifth Church will also be unearthed. The church has been vacant for more than twenty years. Preservationists tried to save the landmark, but they lost that fight.
The project, called The Shoppes on Clifton, is part of a long-awaited redevelopment of that corner, which will also include townhouses.
Anita Brindza, with the nonprofit Cudell Improvement, Inc., confirmed Chipotle Mexican Grill and Fusian, a Dayton-area sushi restaurant, have also signed on to the project.
The redevelopment is welcome news to longtime Papa Nick’s pizza owner Phil Pamphilis, who has watched the neighborhood change since opening in 1981.
“We didn’t have a real functioning economy. It was broken. We lost jobs. We lost our anchor store,” he said, referencing a previous grocery store chain that occupied the corner. "Now the pieces are coming back. The puzzle is coming back together.”
Brindza said construction could be complete as early as the end of 2017.
