Kroger’s Trinity Site Conceptual Site Plan dated Dec. 10, 2012. Courtesy rendering
By Greg Kendall
County officials share activities that indicate the long-awaited Trinity Site Revitalization Project is in fact underway.
“Smith’s is very proactive in moving this project forward,” said Director Anne Laurant of the County’s Capital Projects & Facilities Department. “They are scheduling preliminary meetings for January for site plan approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission and will be submitting for building permits.”
County Economic Vitality Administrator Greg Fisher told the Los Alamos Daily Post this morning that it’s very important for the community to support this project.
“Smith’s Marketplace will have a two-and-a-half times larger footprint than the old Smith’s store and will include food services,” Fisher said. “A national corporation such as Kroger’s does not build a project of this magnitude in a town of our size every day. It’s going to change things … it’s going to cause momentum and the community needs to embrace this.”
The Los Alamos Daily Post has obtained a copy of Kroger’s conceptual site plan for the Trinity Site Revitalization Project.
The latest iteration in this long-running project includes the 110,315 square-foot Smith’s Marketplace store. There also are four retail pads ranging in size from 6,000-8,000 square feet along with two restaurant pads.
It is clear that the restaurant pad illustrated in the northwest corner of the site plan is designed for a typical fast food style restaurant with a dual entrance drive-thru and 4,000 square feet of interior space.
A second restaurant pad on the southern canyon rim (near the future extension of the Canyon Rim Trail) is designated to have 4,800 square feet of interior space with no drive-thru.
A Canyon Rim Trail access path with designated trail parking spaces is provided for in the plan, beginning near the rim-facing restaurant.
A total of 659 parking spaces are included in the plan overall. The majority of the parking is centrally located in a large parking area. The plan calls for four vehicle access roads into the site, two from Trinity Drive and two from Knecht Street, plus a Smith’s loading dock entrance road on the east side of the site.
A new lighted intersection is being planned for Trinity Drive that would connect the Trinity Site development to the Kroger owned Mari-Mac Shopping Center where the Smith’s store is located today.
Los Alamos County Council on Tuesday approved moving forward with a phased approach to N.M. 502 improvements, including the new intersection.
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be updated in order to secure federal and state funding to complete these and other N.M. 502 road phase I improvements.
The public will have the opportunity to weigh in on the new road design during the EIS update process that will take six to nine months to complete before the road improvements work may begin.
The Trinity Site plan is expected to undergo some changes as County staff and potential retail tenants review and refine the plan with Kroger Real Estate Executive Steve Sorensen and other Kroger personel. The plan will then be presented to the Los Alamos Planning and Zone Commission for its consideration and potential approval in the January/February time frame.
Grubb & Ellis New Mexico is acting as the leasing agent for the new shopping center. Robert Feinberg of Grubb & Ellis may be contacted for further leasing information.
Kroger has stated that its goal is to open the new Smith’s Marketplace during the first half of 2014. There is no word yet on which companies could be leasing the other retail and restaurant pads in this new shopping center development.
For a closer look at the Kroger 12-10-12 Conceptual Site Plan, click HERE.
To review the Trinity Site Revitalization Project – County Information Page, click HERE.
To read about the N.M. 502 Improvements Phase I project plans click HERE.
Kroger’s New Mexico real estate development manager, Steve Sorensen can be reached at (801) 974-1475.
The principal leasing agent for Grubb & Ellis, Robert Feinberg can be reached at (505) 883-7060.
Editor’s note: Carol A. Clark contributed to this story.
