COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Grippo Foods plans to expand operations into the vacant Kroger building on Colerain Avenue.
The company, known for making Grippo’s chips and pretzels, is seeking to use the space at 6401 Colerain Avenue as a warehouse while maintaining its current location at 6750 Colerain Avenue as a production space. The vacant Kroger building is just across the street from where Grippo is located.
“This is a huge business retention project and a great expansion project,” Colerain Township Administrator Geoff Milz said. “The fact that they’re local makes it that much sweeter.”
In order to allow for the expansion, Grippo is currently requesting a modification to the zoning of the property to allow “wholesale warehouses” to operate in the space.
“We are requesting (the) approval of a major modification to allow for a viable permitted use in what is a long-vacant building, which in turn then allows a long established company to continue to thrive in Colerain Township,” said Anne McBride, who represents 4Gen Properties LLC.
4Gen Properties LLC is looking to purchase the property and work together with Grippo. McBride presented to the township’s zoning commission last week.
She explained that an estimated eight employees will work from the warehouse, with no customers coming or going. She also said in the beginning the warehouse would just be used for storage, however, in the future it could be used as a location to mix seasoning packets. Grippo did not return a call for comment.
“When Grippo comes here they’ll retain jobs, they’ll be expanding, they’ll be investing in this property,” Milz said.
Milz also said the project will clean up a blighted property. Since sitting vacant, the lot has become a problem property for the township.
“At this site, we’ve had issues with illegal dumping, we’ve had issues with all the things that come along with a vacant property. It can have a blighting influence,” Milz said. “With this new investment, and in this building, you’ll have someone on-site that’s going to be picking up the trash and making sure bad things aren’t happening here. And in fact, a lot of good things will be happening here.”
The Township Board of Trustees will vote on the zoning modification Tuesday night.
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