Alternative buyer gets Food Front property
Local commercial investor Mark New matches Market of Choice price
Mark New has signed a purchase and sale agreement with Food Front Cooperative Grocery for its property at 2375 NW Thurman St.
New, of Development Company of the West, Property Services, agreed to pay $1.5 million, matching the offer of Market of Choice, which pulled out of a tentative sale arrangement last month, partly due to the death of its CEO Rick Wright in June.
Kate Fulton, president of the Food Front board, said New agreed to pay off the co-op’s hard money loan, which would have fallen into default in October. To avoid default on that loan, Fulton signed the contract without a membership vote.
“I don’t love that we went without a vote,” she said, but a foreclosure sale could have been worse.
Fulton said New wants to work with community members to find appropriate tenants and uses for the building. Co-op members have repeatedly declared their desire for a grocery store, which New shares, though conceding that it may be difficult.
I just moved from NW after 13 yrs, and it was excellent having a local grocery store. I'm now in Milwaukie downtown, and I have to get in my car and drive 2 miles to the nearest real grocery store. I don't consider New Seasons in NW as a local grocery store, as most residents in far NW can't actually walk there and carry grocery bags back. I'd love to see the old Food Front be reborn as a grocery store.
As much as, like many others, I’d like to have seen Market of Choice come in, I’m pleased that Mark New stayed the course and will redevelop the property. Hopefully the result will be a nice addition to the neighborhood.