Over the weekend, the Hudson Reporter printed a bit on grocery stores leading to the inevitable speculation on whether a Whole Foods would come to town (still not coming). More interesting though was Liberty Harbor North developer Peter Mocco’s mention of constructing an interim building:

“The kind of dilemma that I deal with is the idea of single stand-alone supermarket building that would be an interim solution, but would have to be taken down when I build a much a larger building that would allow for a food store on the ground floor,” Mocco said.

The original Liberty Harbor plans called for a grocery store and mixed use mini-tower on the corner of Grand and Jersey Avenue. The building would round out the north west corner of the development.

But since the opening of the first LHN buildings, the economy crashed and new construction has been delayed. The completion of existing structures has been a slow process with no plans to break ground on new buildings any time soon. Mocco has previously said, about a year ago, that new construction was at least two years away.

The construction of a dedicated single story grocery store, even if temporary, would not be a positive step for the redevelopment of the neighborhood. Interim buildings tend to take on a more permanent role then intended, even in master planned communities. There is not a dearth of grocery stores available either, with PathMark about 500 feet further west then Liberty Harbor.

Currently the location serves as a parking lot for public school staff by day and beer garden patrons by night.