A former Walgreens at the busy intersection of West 130th Street and Bellaire Road in Cleveland’s Bellaire-Puritas neighborhood is due to become a supermarket with a new gas station outside and fresh foods inside (HEART Design Group). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
May be a harbinger for other vacant drugstores
In Councilman Danny Kelly’s Ward 11 on Cleveland’s West Side, there are three vacant drugstores. Each is facing a different potential outcome. A former CVS on Madison Avenue at West Boulevard may be replaced by a fire station after a gas station was rejected by the neighborhood. An abandoned Rite Aid at West 117th Street and Lorain Avenue may become a senior center. And a vacant Walgreens at West 130th Street and Bellaire Road could turned into a supermarket with a gas station.
The fate of drugstores throughout Cleveland and across the country is an all-too-common story. Nearly 30 percent of 10 U.S. drugstores that were open in the 2010s had closed by 2021 — a trend that has continued, according to a study published yesterday in Health Affairs. “Black and Latino neighborhoods were most vulnerable to the retail pharmacy closures, which can chip away at already-limited care options in those communities,” an Associated Press article noted.
Plans are still very early on for the West 117th Rite Aid’s possible conversion to a senior center, but Kelly said the city is conducting title searches and other due diligence on the property. The Madison CVS could be the new home to Fire Station 23, located at 9825 Madison Ave. for 66 years, after developer Amin Mohammad’s plan for a gas station at the ex-CVS was rejected by city review boards, Kelly said.
Floor plan for the proposed Pure Supermarket at West 130th Street and Bellaire Road with labels and other details visible by clicking on the image (HEART Design Group).
He said the fate of the proposal for the former Walgreens, 4281 W. 130th St. in Cleveland’s Bellaire-Puritas neighborhood, will also be determined by the community but he emphasized he is a big fan of the proposed supermarket.
“It’s up to the community but I’m excited about the grocery store,” Kelly said in a phone interview with NEOtrans. “Ward 11 is a food desert so the idea of a food market there would be phenomenal.”
The grocery store and gas station would be developed by Complete Construction on 1.7 acres of land bought in May by Pure Supermarket Inc. for $1.6 million, county records show. Pure Supermarket is a company created in May by the Hussain Family which owns other gas stations and stores in Greater Cleveland, Kelly said.
View of the planned Pure Supermarket from the Bellaire Road side showing the proposed four electric car charging stations and the addition of a car wash (HEART Design Group).
Plans submitted to the city last week show the vacant 13,428-square-foot Walgreens could gain a Marathon gas station with a canopy out front, a car wash in back plus four electric car charging stations. The proposed gas station will require a variance from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals since the current zoning, Local Retail Business, does not permit gas stations.
A community meeting about the proposed development was held last month inside the vacant drug store, attended by 260 people including Councilmen Kelly and Ward 16’s Brian Kazy, along with representatives of the Jefferson-Puritas West Park Community Development Corp. and the neighboring Westown Community Development Corp. A follow-up meeting may be held.
“Out of 260 people, there were only 14 in opposition to the gas station,” said Julius Tate, owner of development firm Complete Construction and president of Worldwide Resource Management Group of Cleveland. He said revenue from the gas station will help subsidize the prices of the food in the supermarket.
Community opposition doomed a developer’s proposal for converting this former CVS Pharmacy on Madison Avenue at West Boulevard into a gas station. Instead, it could be replaced with a new fire station to replace the old Fire Station 23, located on the same side of the street two blocks away in the distance (Google).
“Instead of all processed food, we’re going to have fresh food at affordable prices,” Tate said. “The fuel will offset those costs. We’ll offer more fuel grade options including premium and diesel than you can find in the neighborhood. Why are they spending that money outside the neighborhood if they don’t have to?”
A floor plan for the use of the former Walgreen’s interior was among the documents submitted to the city last week. It showed that the center of the store is proposed to have 18 shelving units for the display of food and other merchandise. Against the south wall will be self-serve counters with pastries, hot foods, rotisserie chicken, open-air cooler, ice cream/novelties, and a check-out counter.
Behind those counters will be griddles, fryers and ovens, food prep counter, freezers, and a tobacco products display. There will be no alcohol offered for sale in the store, Kelly noted.
The former Rite Aid drugstore, seen below the Lorain sign for Lorain Avenue, could be repurposed as a senior center for Cleveland’s Ward 11. The facility is located at a busy intersection including busy intersecting bus lines on those streets (Google).
“The Hussains are strict Muslims and don’t sell alcohol,” he said. “They are legit business people. They would offer Halal meats and poultry which will be very popular for the neighborhood. It’s a strong Middle East and Somali community in Ward 11.”
In the northwest corner will be a meat/fish/poultry cutting and preparation area for staff with coolers for fish and poultry plus another for fresh meat. The store will also have a self-serve displays of freshly cut meat, fish and poultry, as well as several produce displays along the west wall facing West 130th, the building plans show.
Near the north wall will be a 10-door walk-in cooler, a six-door walk-in freezer, and an 18-door walk-in cooler. To be added to the east side of the store facing Bellaire Road is an enclosed car wash, built where the drive-through pharmacy was located. The biggest addition will be the 3,700-square-foot, six-pump Marathon gas station that could serve up to 12 vehicles at a time.
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