Community Builders buys a second grocery to keep fresh foods on Kansas City’s East Side
Community Builders of Kansas City has taken over another grocery store on the city’s East Side.
The nonprofit community development corporation recently bought Lipari Bros. Sun Fresh Market at Linwood Boulevard and Prospect Avenue. Community Builders will take over the previous owner’s lease on the property, which is owned by the city of Kansas City, and operate the store under a for-profit subsidiary.
Emmet Pierson Jr., president and CEO of Community Builders, said the organization wanted to ensure the grocery store stayed open. Community Builders specializes in urban development and was concerned that a lack of interest from other operators could threaten the store’s future.
“It’s a big deal,” Pierson said. “First of all, it’s a grocery store in an urban community. It’s in a food desert. But it’s a bigger deal because it’s owned by a minority led organization. There’s not that many African-American grocers in the country.”
Community Builders in June 2020 took over the Sun Fresh on Blue Parkway following the previous operator’s retirement. That store is set within The Shops at Blue Parkway, a wider retail center developed by Community Builders in 2005.
“To own one grocery is a big deal, but to own two that are full-service...That’s a big deal,” he said.
Community Builders did not disclose financial details about the purchase of the Prospect Avenue store.
The organization said it would expand food options and services at the Sun Fresh and seek community input about about desires for future features.
No downsizing of staff is expected. Current employees can reapply for their positions and the part-time employees will for the first time be eligible for full-time employment and benefits, Pierson said.
Opened in 2018, the Sun Fresh near Prospect Avenue was a dream fulfilled for many residents of the East Side and city officials.
The Linwood Shopping Center opened in 1982 and thrived for a time, but the original grocery store closed in 2007. In 2014, the city bought the center for $950,000 from an entity established by developer Don Maxwell.
The city invested about $17 million in public funds, including for land acquisition and the cost to build the new store, to renovate other portions of the retail center and to rebuild the parking lot.
The Sun Fresh opened in the summer of 2018 under the operation of John and Pam Lipari.
Reached by phone Monday, John Lipari declined to discuss the sale.
It was an unusual move for the city to play such a hands-on role in development, but city leaders said the 38,000-square-foot store was important to help develop the wider Prospect commercial corridor and to ensure long-neglected residents of the East Side had access to fresh food.
Pierson said Community Builders of Kansas City has similar aims.
“This is a labor of love for us,” Pierson said in a news release outlining the deal. “You can’t transform a community with real estate deals alone and that’s what we’re all about — providing a holistic approach to building healthy communities in the urban core.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
