Open Harvest has for months been hinting at plans to move from its longtime home at 17th and South streets, and it appears it has now settled on a new location.
The co-op grocery store announced that it has signed a letter of intent to lease 10,000 square feet of space on the northeast side of a building at 330 S. 21st St., in the Telegraph District.
Open Harvest wants to move to a 10,000-square-foot space at 330 S. 21st St. in the Telegraph District.
The building is home to Allo Communications, The Mill Coffee & Tea and Subway. The proposed Open Harvest space is currently being used by Allo for storage.
“We chose a location that stuck to the core of Lincoln,” said Wally Graeber, chairman of Open Harvest’s board of directors.
He said the co-op did a market study and looked at a few other locations before settling on the Telegraph District, which proved to be the most affordable and is in an area that is both “low-income and low-access,” meaning there aren’t other grocery stores nearby.
Open Harvest has a lot of work to do to make its plans come to fruition. The move will cost approximately $4.2 million, and the co-op is embarking on a campaign to raise the money.
People are also reading…
It recently sent a letter to all of its roughly 2,300 members asking them to consider investing in the co-op through preferred shares, with a minimum investment of $1,000. Those shares will not give people voting rights, but they will pay a dividend in the future.
Open Harvest is hoping to raise at least $2 million through that route. The rest of the money needed would come through a combination of loans, grants and donated funds.
Open Harvest’s push for liquor license doomed by concerns about unintended consequences
Plans moving forward on new grocery store in southeast Lincoln
The co-op is seeking a grant of as much as $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that’s available to grocery stores that operate in areas considered “food deserts.” Graeber said it should find out by May if it received the grant, which has never before been given to a Nebraska organization.
There also is a fund people can donate to through the Lincoln Community Foundation that will help with moving and startup costs at the new store.
General Manager Amy Tabor said the fund opens up the opportunity for people who live outside Lincoln and even out of state to be involved. Open Harvest is part of a larger cooperative network, so the hope is that people from other places might donate money simply because they believe in co-ops and want to help out, she said.
Assuming Open Harvest is able to raise the money it needs, it would likely move into the new space sometime in late fall 2023 or early spring 2024.
The move from its longtime home of 32 years is being precipitated by the inability to extend its lease, which expires in March 2024.
But there also are other problems at its current location, including limited parking and an inability to get a liquor license because of its proximity to a residential neighborhood.
None of those things will be an issue at the new site.
“There are just so many positives about this location,” Tabor said.
She also said the new location will provide the store long-term security that it doesn’t currently have.
“We truly believe that this opportunity in the Telegraph District will set Open Harvest on a successful path for years to come,” Tabor said.
Hy-Vee liquor store to open next week in Lincoln
editor’s pick alert top story
Several residential projects in or near downtown, including the 250-foot-tall Lied Place Residences, will open to residents this year.
editor’s pick alert top story
Delta Nelson’s entire life has been rooted in the auto industry, so it only made sense when she decided to open The Mechanix Garage in Lincoln.
editor’s pick alert top story
Downtown Lincoln’s population is expected to reach 10,000 in 2025 — a 730% increase since 2010.
editor’s pick alert top story
The history, culture and DNA of the Cornhusker state are woven throughout the Scarlet, which is scheduled to open this spring.
editor’s pick alert top story
Robin Eschliman’s annual review of restaurants in Lincoln found more dining options opened in 2021 than shut down.
editor’s pick alert top story
Over $2 billion worth of inventory was sold online through HiBid in 2021, and there are typically anywhere from 700,000 to 1 million items listed on the site at any given time.
Assurity’s Jack Douglas moved with his wife from South Carolina in 2020, the height of the pandemic.
editor’s pick alert top story
What started as an ambitious vision in 2015 has nearly come to fruition for Speedway Properties and Nelnet, which partnered together and bought more than a dozen properties in the once-blighted area in the 2010s.
editor’s pick alert top story
Union Bank & Trust executive vice president Doris Robertson attributes the bank’s recent success in part to the innovations the company made during the early days of the pandemic.
editor’s pick alert top story
Before Boxcar BBQ officially served its first slab of ribs to a paying customer in October, the staff experimented with hundreds of pounds of meat and dozens of tweaks to their recipes.
Even when the work is hard and frustrating, Jayne Ellenwood says it fills her bucket to be a part of Bryan’s response to the community.
editor’s pick alert top story
The golf club that opened in 2001 has gone private and among its new features will be a 250-foot-long lazy river, an adults-only pool with a swim-up bar and a six-lane competition lap pool.
editor’s pick alert top story
“I wrote thank-you cards to anyone that spent money with us. … I wrote hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cards,” owner Laurie Frasier said, even if someone only spent a few dollars.
With the South Beltway set to open next year, some developers worry the city isn’t thinking aggressively enough about spurring growth in an area still largely unserved by sewer and other infrastructure.
editor’s pick alert top story
Jason Ball returns home to lead the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce with determination to “keep the ball rolling” for Lincoln as the city develops and grows.
CHI Health plans to open a new clinic at 40th Street and Yankee Hill Road, while Bryan Health will wrap up a multiyear expansion and renovation at its East Campus hospital.
editor’s pick topical alert top story
Each of the eight Schulz Poultry barns holds 45,000 birds, which arrive at just a couple hours old and spend the next 42-44 days in the barns before going to Fremont for processing.
Jada Picket Pin said she enjoys serving first-time visitors to the Green Gateau, as well as regulars who return for the excellent food and quality service.
editor’s pick alert top story
Christina Melgoza has seen big changes in Lincoln during her eight years as director of lot sales at Kreuger Development. She spoke to the Journal Star about Lincoln’s growth, the housing market and more.
Since CompanyCam’s inception, more than 400 million photos have been stored and 15 million projects created largely by contractors looking to better document their work.
Monolith led a record year for investment in Lincoln-based companies, which collectively raised nearly $300 million in venture capital in 2021.
editor’s pick alert top story
Many employees moved to remote work during COVID-19, a trend that’s likely to stick around, experts say. But other pandemic effects, such as labor shortages and pay increases, are likely to be short-term changes.
A fundraising campaign brought in more than $10.3 million for the 7 acres of land near the airport and the 60,000-square-foot new office building and warehouse, almost doubling the Food Bank’s current space.
Jay Foreman, Erick Strickland and Vershan Jackson have shows on the The Ticket, which also has programs featuring 22 current Nebraska athletes.
The Journal Star invited businesses and other offices celebrating an anniversary divisible by five this year to share their history with readers.
The Journal Star invited readers to share honors that businesses or employees received as best of state, region or nation. Also included is a recap of the major awards presented by business organizations locally.
In June, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce resumed ribbon-cutting events to mark new businesses, businesses with new owners, relocated and renovated businesses, business anniversaries and ground-breaking ceremonies.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.