Report from the General Manager and Board of Directors
By Emile Amarotico, General Manager and Ed Claassen, Board President
We are excited to announce that in April the Ashland Food Cooperative entered into a contract to purchase a 1.8 acre undeveloped lot at 120 Clear Creek Drive in Ashland. The parcel is located directly behind Ashland Lumber and is about one block as the crow flies (across the railroad tracks), or about a third of a mile via Oak Street from the Store. This purchase is a major step in the Co-op’s vision for growing its downtown presence and is an early step in a more extensive design process that will involve representatives for all the key stakeholders and will include all of our facilities. Our intention is to retain existing facilities and explore how they can best be used given their close proximity to Ashland's vibrant downtown.
For a number of years, the Co-op has been actively engaged in exploring solutions to address limited store capacity and parking. We considered properties outside the downtown core for a second store and decided the best way we can serve our owners is to expand our space and offerings in downtown Ashland.
We believe this property has the potential to address future needs. The scarcity of lots this large in the downtown core makes it an attractive investment for the future.
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By purchasing this property we have secured our option to develop it in the future, as we continue to explore the best way to meet the needs of our shoppers. Our goal is to have a store that is a delight to shop in, where you can get the food you love and trust, and where you can explore and learn more about healthy food and its preparation.
The zoning of this property will allow the Co-op to develop not only a larger store, with significant parking, but potentially workforce and/or cooperative housing on the site.
We welcome your questions and suggestions at AFCCampus@ashlandfood.coop.
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