SOUTH SHORE — Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) called into question what grocery store is moving into Jeffery Plaza at her Tuesday night ward meeting.
Hairston said a recent broker’s report listing a 10-year lease with St. Louis-based Shop ‘N Save as part of a bid to sell the shopping center at 2101 E. 71st St. for $19 million was inaccurate.
She said Niles-based Shop & Save Market was negotiating a lease and is close to finalizing a deal.
The owner of the shopping center, Cannon Commercial, has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
Vladimir Ganz, the broker negotiating the leases for the shopping center, said Wednesday that reports that included Shop & Save as the grocer were inaccurate, but declined to say who the grocer was or whether a lease was finalized.
Neither grocery store would either confirm or deny that it is negotiating a lease.
Nothing appears to be certain at the shopping center since Dominick’s closed in late 2014.
Plans for a World Fresh Markets fell through in 2015 when the manager left. Year-long negotiations also failed this month for Karriem’s Fresh Market.
Hairston has recently amplified calls for the city to take the shopping center through eminent domain because of the owner’s failure to find an anchor tenant.
The idea went over well at Tuesday night’s meeting, where it was met with loud applause.
Hairston said she’s already cleared the idea with the incoming grocer.
But it’s unclear how the city would justify using eminent domain in the inevitable court challenge if the owner signs a lease with a grocer and is making efforts to sell the property.
