Grocery store, apartments proposed in Bloomfield at Community Market site

A local developer is eyeing a site in Bloomfield to build a complex complete with a new grocery store, public square, retail, and hundreds of apartments at the Community Market — formerly the ShurSave IGA — site at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Main Street.

O’Hara-based Echo Realty held a public meeting Tuesday evening in Bloomfield to present preliminary plans for the complex while it is seeking a zoning variance.

The company is seeking to increase the maximum height allowed on the two-acre site in order to build a 248-unit apartment building, a 28,000 square foot grocery store, about 10,000 square feet for various retail, and 318 parking spaces, some of them underground.

Officials say if the approval process goes well, they hope to start construction in Spring 2024 and complete the project by late 2025 or early 2026.

ECHO’s effort restarts development plans for the site. In 2018, an apartment/grocery store proposal from developer Milhaus was dropped.

Philip Bishop, Echo vice president, said he wants to comply with the neighborhood plan. He said maintaining a grocery store and creating public space is a priority.

“We hope that at the end of this meeting, that we are incorporating what you put into this document,” said Bishop, referencing Bloomfield’s neighborhood plan. “We would be stupid not to incorporate what the community wants.”

He said Echo is partnering with Giant Eagle, who will be managing the grocery store project. Other retail on the site could be restaurants, cafes, other retail, but those decisions have not been finalized, said Bishop. Architectural design for the complex is also still in the preliminary stages.

Currently, Community Market occupies the 36,000-square-foot grocery store space on the site. Bishop said the new grocery store will be slightly smaller at 28,000 square feet, but will have more modern amenities.

To comply with Bloomfield’s inclusionary zoning standards, the complex will include 25 affordable units. Bishop said rents for these units will range from about $600-$800 in rent and include studios, 1-bedrooms and 2-bedrooms. The other units will be market-rate.

Bishop said to make the project economically feasible, the complex needs to exceed the current maximum height allowed by zoning, which is 45 feet.

“The density for the plan is because of economics,” said Bishop. “Construction costs are getting higher, and when we put the numbers together, it doesn’t work without the density proposed.”

Along Liberty Avenue, the complex is proposed to reach 75 feet and six stories, with apartment units sitting above grocery and retail. The building heights will be lower along Gangwish Street, where 45-foot townhomes are proposed.

Bishop said this is to respect the neighborhood feel along Gangwish Street, in contrast to the commercial feel along Liberty.

About 100 residents attended the meeting, and many were supportive of the development. Some had questions about affordable housing, parking, and street design.

Bishop said Echo will be digging underground on the site to add parking spaces, and that 120 spaces will be made available to the public, with free parking for a couple hours and then pay following that. The other parking spaces are allocated to residents.

Bus stops on Howley and Ella streets will be preserved and upgraded, said Bishop. He added that the complex will have many bike parking spaces, which will allow the development to have fewer car parking spaces required by zoning.

Bishop said Echo will not be addressing any major road design issues for the intersection at Liberty, Main, and Bloomfield Bridge.

Bloomfield Development Corporation Director Christina Howell called that intersection unsafe and “awful.” She said the neighborhood group is still advocating with the city for investment to redesign the intersection.

Another community meeting will be held on Saturday, July 15 at 10:30 a.m. at West Penn Nursing School Building at 4900 Friendship Ave., Bloomfield.