Whole Foods Market moving from Troy to Birmingham

The Whole Foods Market at Maple and Coolidge roads in Troy is planning to relocate less than a mile away into Birmingham.

The Birmingham City Commission paved the way for the deal Monday after voting to rezone a five-acre piece of property at 2100 E. Maple from office to business. The next step will be a site plan review, followed by the demolition of a vacant 55,965 square-foot building that sat idle on the site for years.

“I call it an orphaned property, but really it needs to be repurposed to something that’s good for the whole community – and that’s what we’re looking at tonight,” said attorney Rick Rattner, representing property owner Linden Nelson.

The property is nestled on the south side of Maple Road between LA Fitness and the Amtrak railroad tracks. Whole Foods plans to build a new 45,000 square-foot building on the site. The new market will double the size of the existing store, while still serving the same customer base.

Nelson said a 25-year lease is in place with the market, with several options that could extend the agreement out to 60 years. As part of the rezoning approval, Nelson said he’s willing to sign an agreement that only a supermarket is permitted on the site under the B-2 zoning classification.

“They would like to go on with this project and we’d like to get this built,” he said of the market proposal.

The parcel is directly across the street from the Pembroke subdivision that’s located in Birmingham. Rattner said he has the neighborhood’s endorsement after reviewing the building plans and traffic improvements in the area. The commission packet included 11 letters in support of the project.

“So we’re very proud of what we’re getting into,” he told the commission. “We think this is going to be a great asset to the community.”

In a previous meeting with the Birmingham Planning Board, Thea Hiak with Whole Foods Market said the company looked at other properties and felt this location would keep them closest to their existing facility at the northeast corner of Maple and Coolidge. Also, it would maintain a lot of their existing customers, along with providing 275 parking spaces.

The parcel was rezoned from industrial to office in 1989. Today, the general area is zoned for mixed use with residential and retail components. Along with the fitness center, there’s multi-family housing and a shopping mall to the east, the Troy transit center to the south and the Big Rock Chophouse to the west.

Nelson said a St. Joe’s urgent care center leased part of the property for a few years, but otherwise the site has remained vacant.

Commissioner Rackeline Hoff and Mayor Stuart Sherman raised concerns about the property’s use in the event Whole Foods doesn’t succeed or decides to relocate.

“That to me is a concern because we’ve seen things change over time,” Sherman said.

But the commission approved the rezoning by unanimous vote after Nelson agreed to limit the use of the property to a supermarket. No details were presented on a timetable for the demolition of the existing building at 2100 E. Maple. Nor was there any mention about future plans for the current supermarket site in Troy.

“Whole Foods has been working long and hard on this site plan,” said Nelson, who purchased the property in 1995. “The papers are signed. I can’t do any more than that.”

jgrossman@hometownlife.com | 586-826-7030 Twitter: @BhmEccentric