# Civic Matters > Suburban & Other OK Communities > Midwest City/Del City >  Development on Sooner Rd. between 44th and 59th?

## narrowexpanded

I hope this is the right place to post this...i didn't see it anywhere else, and although TECHNICALLY i believe the location is an OKC address, c'mon...its Del City.

So, whats going in on the east side of Sooner Rd. between the apartment complex and and the storage facility? its a decent size lot with a lot of dirt being moved. I told my wife its likely ANOTHER apartment complex but we would be ECSTATIC to find out if its a grocery store! 

please say CREST, please say CREST, please say CREST, lol.

We live off of Sooner just south of I-240 and we ALL want a grocery store somewhere near...i know a neighbor who is harassing Crest with emails about locating nearby, but I'm not sure we have enough population to warrant it. Even an Aldi would be better than nothing!

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## kevinpate

Call wally world.  They seem to be putting their neighborhood markets everywhere.

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## Roger S

I don't know what it is but I'd say I'm abouit 99.9% right when I say that it's not a Crest or a Walmart.

I had heard recently that Aldi was looking to open more locations but I don't have much knowledge about Aldi.

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## bombermwc

I've been wondering about this too. It's a good-sized piece of land that they're working on. 

Some real estate company called MVG Development from Denver, CO bought the land under the LLC of "Del City Investments". So that doesn't really help identify anything at all because they do strip centers and single tenant buildings (and retirement homes). I'm guessing that it's not a retirement home, but hey, i could be wrong. I dont think the lot is quite big enough for one large enough to be profitable. It's not a very good location for a restaurant, so i'm guessing either a little strip center (oh goodie lets get another craptacular strip center) or a single tenant that we wont be excited about. I'm going to guess not Aldi only because they dont usually build that close together since the Air Depot one is only like 5 miles away.

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## easternobserver

> I've been wondering about this too. It's a good-sized piece of land that they're working on. 
> 
> Some real estate company called MVG Development from Denver, CO bought the land under the LLC of "Del City Investments". So that doesn't really help identify anything at all because they do strip centers and single tenant buildings (and retirement homes). I'm guessing that it's not a retirement home, but hey, i could be wrong. I dont think the lot is quite big enough for one large enough to be profitable. It's not a very good location for a restaurant, so i'm guessing either a little strip center (oh goodie lets get another craptacular strip center) or a single tenant that we wont be excited about. I'm going to guess not Aldi only because they dont usually build that close together since the Air Depot one is only like 5 miles away.


I think its a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market with a gas station out front.

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## bombermwc

Hm, while I would have preferred it be closer to 240, that wouldn't be terrible. People in the area have been wanting SOMETHING in the grocery world to come over there. Seems an odd location though for a market. And the old food lion is just around the corner...I wonder why they didn't take it. it's not like the current owners wouldn't be ecstatic to get rid of the place with the crappy occupancy the thing has had since Food Lion left.

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## narrowexpanded

> I think its a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market with a gas station out front.



Anything more concrete than a hunch? 

it seems odd to me that Wal Mart would build a grocery store 2.5 miles away from a very profitable Supercenter...a Supercenter I practically refuse to patronize, btw. But thats another story for another day.

If it had been further south down Sooner Rd, that would make a little more sense.
Either way, we NEED something, and while IF IT IS A WALMART I will likely STILL go do my big shopping at Crest, having SOMETHING nearby will be better than nothing.

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## easternobserver

> Anything more concrete than a hunch? 
> 
> it seems odd to me that Wal Mart would build a grocery store 2.5 miles away from a very profitable Supercenter...a Supercenter I practically refuse to patronize, btw. But thats another story for another day.
> 
> If it had been further south down Sooner Rd, that would make a little more sense.
> Either way, we NEED something, and while IF IT IS A WALMART I will likely STILL go do my big shopping at Crest, having SOMETHING nearby will be better than nothing.


Nothing too solid.  I had been chasing down a half solid rumor that it was a market entry location from Fresh Market, but something about the stormwater permit and the developer's past history with Neighborhood Markets pointed me to Wal-Mart.  That and the gas being permitted at the same time...

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## Pete

It's a 40,000 square foot "Generic Grocery Store" according to the building permit.

The address is 4900 S. Sooner in OKC.

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## Pete

Here is a site plan.  At 41,000+ SF this is a little larger than a typical Walmart Neighborhood Market and also the developers don't seem to be Walmart.

I called the name on the building permit (a co. based in Dallas) and they were very secretive about the name of the grocery store.

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## kevinpate

> ... it seems odd to me that Wal Mart would build a grocery store 2.5 miles away from a very profitable Supercenter...


Here in Norman, a third Wally super center was recently before council for necessary zoning changes.  It will be on the south side, just past where Hwys 9 & 77 intersect. The new center is less than 3 miles from an existing one, and there is a WM Neighborhood Market skated to go in between these two super centers.

This will be the second Neighborhood market for WM in Norman, in addition to a Sams and two SC's with a 3rd on its way.

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## Plutonic Panda

> Here is a site plan.  At 41,000+ SF this is a little larger than a typical Walmart Neighborhood Market and also the developers don't seem to be Walmart.
> 
> I called the name on the building permit (a co. based in Dallas) and they were very secretive about the name of the grocery store.


Tom Thumb?

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## easternobserver

> Tom Thumb?


Its big for a neighborhood market.  That said, other signs point there.  The drive through on the north side (and the strange parking configuration across the drive through lane), the single entrance and single call out for ADA parking, the minimalist fuel island....

The sprinkler contractor did end up submitting plans titling it as a fresh market.  Clearly it can't be fresh market as in "The Fresh Market", the national chain recently opened in Tulsa and recently announced for Norman and Edmond.  The site plan just doesn't work for that...so I'm chalking the sprinkler contractor permit title up to typical obfuscation out of Bentonville...

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## Roger S

> I don't know what it is but I'd say I'm abouit 99.9% right when I say that it's not a Crest or a Walmart.
> 
> I had heard recently that Aldi was looking to open more locations but I don't have much knowledge about Aldi.


Ok, I'm revising my estimate from post #3 on that not being a Neighborhood Market..... Switch that from being 99.9% sure it wasn't to 99.9% sure it is and I'm revising my percentage that it is not a Crest to 100.1%.

Square Footage and the Murphy station layout look very similar to some other site plans I have seen recently.

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## Pete

EXCEPT this is a build-to-suit by a Denver-based company who has no prior involvement with Walmart, and WM really likes to own their own property.

It does look like a WMNM but this is all very strange.

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## Roger S

> EXCEPT this is a build-to-suit by a Denver-based company who has no prior involvement with Walmart, and WM really likes to own their own property.
> 
> It does look like a WMNM but this is all very strange.


I agree the property part is strange but that drawing is almost identical to the site plan I looked at for another WMNM being built here..

Only other company I know of doing a similar Fresh Market concept is Dollar General but I don't have access to any of their site plans to compare. I have driven by the one in Tishomingo but it did not have a filling station.

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## Pete

I wanted to add that in all the various permits, great care has been taken to redact the name of the grocery tenant.  That's very atypical of Walmart as well.

Still, it is very likely them but there are reasons to believe it may be someone else.

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## easternobserver

> I wanted to add that in all the various permits, great care has been taken to redact the name of the grocery tenant.  That's very atypical of Walmart as well.
> 
> Still, it is very likely them but there are reasons to believe it may be someone else.


I totally agree with Pete.  Something feels off.  

MVG does do Wal-Mart work.  They are tied to Neighborhood Market projects in Richmond, Roanoke, Jacksonville and elsewhere.  They also do tons of Dollar General work.  

Here is something interesting....DG is playing around with gas at the new market prototypes.  Dollar General Introduces New Fueling Station | Dollar General Newsroom

A DG market is less than 20,000 sq ft though, so that's not likely....

What still gets me is the pharmacy drive through....and the size of the store with the one entrance and striping clearly set up for single user.....

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## mmonroe

Fire Permit shows Fresh Market Grocery and i've only seen one in Tulsa.. maybe an expansion?

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## Pete

> Fire Permit shows Fresh Market Grocery and i've only seen them in Tulsa.. maybe an expansion?


Typical size for a Fresh Market is 21,000 SF; this is twice that size.

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## bombermwc

Fresh Market doesn't seem the type to get into the gas business either.

Crest pilot store for a new small footprint store? HAHA, no.

Im betting it's a WMNM too. Or some dinky Homeland brand that will be doomed to fail since its Homeland and they always eventually fail.

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## bchris02

This is good news.  That is a very underserved part of the metro and it will be of great benefit for those who live in that area to have a grocery store.  Especially for those in the subdivisions on S Sooner Rd south of I-240 who for so long have had to drive to the S 29th and Sunnyland Homeland or the Moore Wal-Mart Supercenter as their closest options.  As for the grocery operator at this location, I don't see how it could be anybody but Wal-Mart.  It wouldn't be Crest because they make sure their stores are all a good distance from each other.  I doubt an upscale grocer like The Fresh Market would choose that location to move into OKC nor would a new to market operator.

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## MFracas84

I am very excited to see any grocery store being built there.

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## MFracas84

What about Dierbergs Grocery stores?  I see that one of the applicants is from Chesterfield, MO and this grocery store is based out of that place. Dierbergs - Grocery, Floral, Recipe and Classes - Missouri & Illinois Grocer

Edit: Never mind. I see that was the construction company called Brinkman Construction.

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## Robert_M

I saw a set of plans listed as "MVG Neighborhood Market" that is also being built in Lawton. These plans were just as vague however I did find that on the exterior and interior paint colors this store shares the same paint colors as a Walmart Express that is being built in Wewoka.  The font on the pharmacy sign also appears to be the same and the typical used by Walmart.

I would have to agree with others that I'm 99% sure it will be a Walmart just don't know why it is a big secret as most Walmart plans I have seen for the state usually scream Walmart.

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## bombermwc

well soon enough we'll see some structure and it wont be a mystery. I'm hoping for a market and not an express. Lord knows we don't need a dollar store, we need a grocery store!

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## Robert_M

The Express ones I have seen are only around 11,000 - 12,000 square feet so this should be a full neighborhood market as the new one in Norman is around 42,000 square feet.

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## narrowexpanded

> I would have to agree with others that I'm 99% sure it will be a Walmart just don't know why it is a big secret as most Walmart plans I have seen for the state usually scream Walmart.



i don't know the details of the Norman Supercenter that is being built, but i thought i read that it was kept under wraps until the last minute to avoid community protests and locals (which happened buy were small and unsuccessful) from raising hell that ANOTHER WalMart was being built, lowering property values, bringing excess traffic, etc etc.

Surely they wouldn't be thinking that same strategy is needed here, right? I mean, "I'M" no WalMart fan, but i don't think they will have to worry about protests in the Mid-Del area...the WalMarts here have seemingly done very well for the locals.

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## bombermwc

The old gas station at 240/Sooner has some major dirt work going on now too. The plot is big enough to be an OnCue...hehehe. Doubt it with one 3 miles up the road, but with Phillips/7-11 (unless they close sooner/44th and move it, which is a possibility), Valero, and Sinclair near by there aren't a whole lot of other brands to go in.

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## easternobserver

> The old gas station at 240/Sooner has some major dirt work going on now too. The plot is big enough to be an OnCue...hehehe. Doubt it with one 3 miles up the road, but with Phillips/7-11 (unless they close sooner/44th and move it, which is a possibility), Valero, and Sinclair near by there aren't a whole lot of other brands to go in.


That one absolutely is an OnCue....

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## narrowexpanded

> That one absolutely is an OnCue....


I assumed it was the Immediate Care Clinic they have a "Coming Soon" sign for. I take it that it will be built between the hwy and the service road instead then?

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## easternobserver

> I assumed it was the Immediate Care Clinic they have a "Coming Soon" sign for. I take it that it will be built between the hwy and the service road instead then?


Not sure about the Immediate Care but there is a building permit for OnCue with a Sooner address....

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## bradh

It is an MVG Neighborhood Market, with a gas station in the parking lot.  Currently one under construction and another in Enid as well.  That's all I know as well from the plans I have seen.

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## narrowexpanded

> It is an MVG Neighborhood Market, with a gas station in the parking lot.  Currently one under construction and another in Enid as well.  That's all I know as well from the plans I have seen.


Correct me if I'm wrong but...MVG appears to be the name of the Denver based developer, NOT the name of the grocery store.

I believe this is what is being referred to above when its mentioned that the name of the store is not being used, only the developer and "neighborhood market."

All signs are pointing to this being a WalMart Neighborhood Market. A google search of "MVG neighborhood market" is bringing up stories of walmart grocery stores being built in Virginia. That is all anyone appears to know at this time.

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## bradh

It very well may be a WM, but I have yet to see a WM concept not be plainly noted as such on any plans for construction.  See recently the recent WM Neighborhood Markets bid in Yukon and Norman.

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## bchris02

It pretty much HAS to be Wal-Mart because in OKC, there really isn't anything else it could be.  Knowing the market strategy of Crest, Homeland, Uptown, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Natural Grocers, that location doesn't fit any of them.  It's not likely a new player would pick a location like that to enter the market.

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## bombermwc

Narrow - Immediate Care is on the other side of 74th, on the little plot between the offramp and 74th. Since it's said "coming fall 2014" for over a year, I'm a bit less optimistic that they're actually going to build anything. It would be difficult to open any type of construction before the end of the year, regardless of how small it is. I'm guessing they ran out of steam and gave up, which is unfortunate. It would be nice to have an urgent care around the area.

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## Roger S

> Narrow - Immediate Care is on the other side of 74th, on the little plot between the offramp and 74th. Since it's said "coming fall 2014" for over a year, I'm a bit less optimistic that they're actually going to build anything. It would be difficult to open any type of construction before the end of the year, regardless of how small it is. I'm guessing they ran out of steam and gave up, which is unfortunate. It would be nice to have an urgent care around the area.


I think they are having some utility issues with that Immediate Care site.

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## narrowexpanded

I guess the mystery will be solved soon enough...walls are up...construction is in full swing. Still. No. Indication. EXACTLY. what this "store" will be. Regardless of all signs pointing to it being a WMNM, then why all the secrecy?

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## bombermwc

I'm still leaning on WMNM, if you compare the structure layout to the one on Reno, you'll see a similar small set of openings on one end of the front (entrance/exit). No other windows or anything. 

Looks/Smells/Acts like a WMNM to me....

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## bradh

> It very well may be a WM, but I have yet to see a WM concept not be plainly noted as such on any plans for construction.  See recently the recent WM Neighborhood Markets bid in Yukon and Norman.


Confirmed it is a WMNM...had me fooled since the other ones recently built weren't named like this.

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