Great Lakes Ace Hardware is leasing part of the former Marsh Supermarket building at 1240 N. State St. in Greenfield, with plans to open next year. Greenwalt Corporation, which recently acquired the property and plans to redevelop its interior, hopes to secure one to two other tenants as well.
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GREENFIELD – The property that housed a Marsh Supermarket and then a Sears Hometown Store in the city has a new owner.
Greenwalt Corporation, a Greenfield-based real estate development company that owns most of the surrounding properties in McKenzie Plaza, closed on its latest addition earlier this week. The firm is behind the plans announced last month to redevelop the building into a multi-tenant space. Great Lakes Ace Hardware will anchor the facility. Greenwalt Corporation has plans to develop another multi-tenant commercial building on the lot as well.
Aaron Greenwalt, general counsel for and a member of Greenwalt Corporation, said Great Lakes Ace Hardware is leasing 18,000 square feet on the south end of the approximately 38,000-square-foot building with hopes of opening sometime early next year.
Work is slated to get underway soon to take the building’s interior “down to the bones,” Greenwalt said, including removing equipment from when it served as a grocery store. The company then plans to replace electrical systems and provide new lighting; new heating, ventilation and air conditioning units; and a new roof. The building’s exterior will be freshened up, its parking lot will be seal-coated and the McKenzie Plaza pylon sign off State Street will be improved.
Greenwalt Corporation acquired the property from New York-based Greenfield SSG LLC.
ConsortiumCRE, an Indianapolis-based commercial real estate company, marketed the property for years.
“Patrons to the area and citizens of Greenfield should see evidence of the redevelopment next week,” said Keith Stark, CEO of ConsortiumCRE. “…It’s going to be a significant redevelopment of the building.”
Mark VandenBerg, president of Great Lakes Ace Hardware, said the business is looking forward to setting up shop in the city.
“We recognize the need in Greenfield for a convenient neighborhood hardware store that will help meet the demand for home maintenance and repair products,” VandenBerg said in a news release. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to open a store in a vibrant community like Greenfield.”
VandenBerg added the company is already beginning to hire associates.
“Our plan is to provide training in one of our other stores in Indiana so when the Greenfield store opens we have an experienced and helpful team ready to serve,” he said.
Greenwalt said his company hopes to secure another tenant for the rest of the building, or two if necessary.
The company also plans to develop a commercial building of about 7,000 to 9,000 square feet for two to four tenants near the southeast corner of the land parcel, closer to State Street. Greenwalt said he can’t disclose anything about tenants just yet, but hopes to make an announcement soon.
Greenwalt Corporation also owns the shopping center north of the former Marsh building and the medical office building to the south, as well as outlots in McKenzie Plaza housing AT&T, Don Rigo Mexican Bar & Grill and Jimmy John’s.
“We’re just looking to clean the center up and make it an asset for the community,” Greenwalt said.
Great Lakes Ace Hardware began operation in Dearborn, Michigan in 1946. Greenfield will be store No. 61 that the chain operates in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. It has been part of the Ace Hardware Cooperative since 2014. Those interested in employment opportunities can visit greatlakesace.com/careers.
The former Sears Hometown Store, which occupied part of the former Marsh building, closed last month amid dozens of Sears Hometown Stores closing across the country.
The Marsh Supermarket closed in 2017 amid the company’s other closings across Indiana and Ohio as it pursued Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
