NEW PALESTINE — Hancock Health leaders say they have reached an agreement to buy land for a Kroger grocery store in New Palestine.
The 48 acres is behind property near the Hancock Health Healthway Park that Hancock Health already owns.
Harold Gibson is director of property development for Hancock Health and said other than ironing out some zoning issues with town officials, things are a “go” to get the Kroger built in 2026.
“They’re (Kroger is) buying our seven acres that is right near the roundabout (Leon Lane); it’s sort of south/east of the hardware store,” Gibson said.
Hospital leaders have acquired an additional 48 acres in the area, since Kroger was wanting more land than the hospital owned. Gibson said they negotiated with the landowners to buy the land there with the intention of Kroger buying a big chunk of the property.
“This is working out in a way we had envisioned,” Gibson said of the site development. “It’s just been a great partnership from the town, which is what has been the case from the start, and they’ve (town officials) asked Kroger to up their game and they have because they see the potential for the area as well.”
New Palestine leaders, including the town’s planning commission, are preparing for the work they need to do, which includes some rezoning to lay the groundwork for the full-service grocery store, which will have a Starbucks inside and gas pumps, complete with a canopy, outside.
Bill Niemier is a town councilman and the president of the town’s planning commission. He sees the development of the Kroger as a positive project for area residents.
“If that development leads to future development then that’s a bonus, but in and above itself, it’s such a tremendous addition to the community,” Niemier said. “We are talking about a 99,000-square-foot building, which is approximately four times the size of Needler’s.”
Needler’s, located near the northeast corner of U.S. 52 and the Mt. Comfort Corridor, is the town’s only full-service grocery store in the rapidly growing area.
The planning commission began talking about hiring Brian Bosma as the bond counsel to handle the project during its Aug. 6 meeting.
“He is in the process of preparing a timeline, and as soon as we get it we want to share it, because we know this is going to be aggressive and we could end up having special meetings for the plan commission, the BZA and the town’s council, but that’s OK because we want to show a level of commitment,” Niemier said. “It’s such a good, positive project that we want to facilitate it and do whatever we can do.”
Ethan Maple, town council president, agrees and said getting a Kroger in New Palestine is a great move.
“I’m excited about it,” Maple said. “Having a bigger grocery store option come to New Pal just creates more options for the community.”
Maple said perhaps having a national store commit to the area for a major development is great for more than one reason.
“I think New Pal is a great community for them to be successful in, and not only for the products that they carry, but they will bring some jobs to the area both for the younger high school kids and maybe even for some retirees who are looking for something else to do,” Maple said. “For me, this is nothing but positive for the community.”
Maple said town leaders expect a quick timeline on the project, but everything appears to be on track and moving forward at a fast pace.
“I don’t anticipate this being any kind of controversy with the preliminary conversations I’ve had with members of the council,” Maple said. “But, I’m just one vote. However, the individual conversations I’ve had, everyone sees this as a real benefit for the community, which will encourage more growth and development.”
Town officials and Hancock Health leaders note they have a good working partnership, with the same type of ideas when it comes to development in the area, which made the idea to bring the Kroger to New Palestine possible.
“It’s an area they (Kroger) like and quite frankly, we like what they have to offer,” Gibson said. “We’ll see how the town receives it, but we know so far they’ve spent a lot of time communicating with the town and providing them will all kinds of information.”
Gibson noted with the development of the Kroger, Hancock Health leaders will still have extra land for future development for medical needs, or whatever uses the market calls for.
“So we’re excited about that, to be able to continue to do there what we may want to do in the future,” Gibson said. “The upscale approach that this is going to provide continues to be what the town wants to preserve and what they see for the area.”
Town manager Jim Robinson said the town will make sure the project has top-notch landscaping around the development to maintain the more upscale look they’re going for in town.
“It’s gonna be nice because they’re going to have to meet a lot of landscaping requirements, and from what we understand it’s going to be a new-concept kind of building,” Robinson said. “It’s going to be a really nice store.”
Robinson noted a zoning change to allow gas pumps at the new Kroger, in a current Planned Unit Development (PUD) area, could be addressed as soon as the next planning commission meeting.
“There’ll be a lot of meetings coming up right through December, because that’s when they’ve asked to have all their permits ready,” Robinson said. “It’s my understanding they really do want to be open and ready for business at the end of 2026.”