King Soopers to leave Lafayette; Erie site to open late summer

Feb. 23—As Erie residents prepare to welcome a new King Soopers at the Nine Mile location off Arapahoe Road, Lafayette residents will have to bid farewell to the King Soopers less than a mile south along U.S. 287 and Baseline Road.

Gabi Rae, Erie communications and community engagement director, said that there is no firm opening date for the Nine Mile King Soopers, but the town anticipates a late summer or early fall opening.

Lafayette Communications Director Debbie Wilmot said that the Lafayette King Soopers will close as soon as the other opens.

Wilmot said that King Soopers will maintain ownership of the Lafayette property and is looking for a tenant.

While King Soopers representatives are focused on leasing the space, Wilmot said the city is still talking about the future of the site, and Lafayette did approach King Soopers to pursue a potential public-private partnership for the property.

King Soopers is one of the largest tenants in Lafayette, but the city is not worried about a loss in sales tax revenue.

“The good news is that the city of Lafayette will receive joint sales tax revenue from the new King Soopers site in Erie,,” Wilmot said.

In 2019, Lafayette, Erie and the Erie Urban Renewal Authority approved an intergovernmental agreement, , which outlines that Lafayette and Erie will equally share tax revenues from King Soopers. Wilmot said that the future 100,000 square foot location is larger than the current King Soopers on Baseline, which will help with revenue.

Lafayette is working with the developer Kensington toward a future development across from the Erie King Soopers site. The developer is looking at placing a commercial retail location, and maybe even another grocery store, in the southwest corner of U.S. 287 and Arapahoe Road, also called Lafayette Marketplace.

Kensington developers are working on a new site plan and will submit a new application to Lafayette this year, after the developers asked to postpone their meeting with the Planning Commission in August 2023.

Wilmot said that the city will extend Ride Free Lafayette, a free bus service in Lafayette, to Lafayette Marketplace and Nine Mile so that residents can enjoy the retail locations.

“The Highway 287 corridor continues to grow and provides a great retail amenity for our residents to shop and dine in the center of our community,” Economic Development Director Brigid Keating said in an email.

King Soopers representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

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