Remodeling Project Will Put An Early-1900s Appearance On Neighborhood Shopping Center At Ninth And Monroe

A neighborhood shopping center is being spruced up and expanded on the lower South Hill.

Plans for remodeling the shopping center at Monroe and Ninth coincided with the sale of the Monroe Street Market to Rosauer’s Supermarkets Inc.

Rosauer’s closed the deal on Sept. 30, said Larry Geller, the company’s president.

Rosauer’s will own the business, but will lease the space from JLP Enterprises, owner of the shopping center, said W.D. Evans, a spokesman for JLP.

Geller would not elaborate on the company’s plans for the market, but Evans said Rosauer’s plans to make the 17,000-square-foot store into a natural foods supermarket with organic produce.

Rosauer’s also operates a supermarket at 14th and Monroe.

The shopping center is being remodeled with an historic look, reminiscent of the early 1900s, Evans said. A brick facade is being built on all the buildings and a clock tower will face Monroe, Evans said.

“We wanted to keep in step with all the restoration in the neighborhood,” said Evans, noting that many houses in the area are being remodeled in a style reminiscent of the turn of the century.

JLP Enterprises also is expanding the center, adding a building in the northwest corner that will house a 2,000-square-foot laundromat and 2,000 square feet of office space in a daylight basement, Evans said.

No tenants have been found yet for the office space.

The shopping center currently houses Jones Pharmacy and Home Health Care Center, a Scollard’s dry cleaner and Alicia’s, a hair, nail and tanning salon.

The area has needed a laundromat for a long time, said Carla Bennett, store manager at Scollard’s.

People frequently ask her where the closest laundromat is, Bennett said.

This week, workers were stripping tiles from the roof of the former Monroe Street Market. A sign in the parking lot announced: “Coming soon - A fresh new idea.”

The entire shopping center will comprise about 30,000 square feet.

No opening date has been set for the new Rosauer’s store.

Evans hopes to open the new building, with the laundromat and offices, in December. Total cost of the expansion and remodeling project is about $400,000, he said.

“It’s wonderful,” Bennett said of the remodeling. “It’s needed it for a long time. I think it’s going to be very sharp once it’s all finished.”

, DataTimes