Village Marketplace Developer in Final Negotiations With New Anchor Tenant

The developer of the proposed Village Marketplace said he is in the last throws of negotiations with a "national major tenant" after CVS decided not to replace Fresh & Easy as anchor tenant earlier this year.

For the past few years, David Irmer has been trying to put a new retail center on the 15,000 square foot site of the old Lucky grocery store on East 14th Street. It is now a parking lot opposite Pelton Center.

"We anticipate a final response [from the anchor tenant] on July 12," he told San Leandro Patch on Tuesday. "We just hold our breath and keep good thoughts."

Fresh & Easy, a grocery chain founded by the British corporation, Tesco, was Irmer's original anchor tenant. But Tesco announced in late 2012 that it may would remove the Fresh & Easy chain out of the U.S. market.

Irmer then tried to convince CVS to relocate to Village Marketplace earlier this year, but senior management decided that the proposed site did not have enough parking space. Management also felt that the space could not accommodate a drive-through lane which is a necessary feature for new pharmacy buildings, Irmer told Patch.