Kansas City leaders are moving forward with a plan to reopen the long-troubled grocery store at 31st Street and Prospect Avenue under a new operator and revised expectations aimed at addressing safety, theft and long-term sustainability.
The City Council is expected to consider an ordinance authorizing a 10-year lease, with two five-year renewal options, with United Market KC, LLC. The company would operate a full-service grocery store in the city-owned building at 3110 Prospect Ave., last occupied by Sun Fresh Market and operated by Community Builders of Kansas City. City officials have said they hope the store can reopen by mid-April.
Community Builders closed the store in August 2025 after sustained financial losses and ongoing safety challenges, despite city assistance intended to keep the grocery operating.
Background: City Ownership and Prior Investment
The City of Kansas City owns Linwood Shopping Center, where the store is located, and has invested more than $15 million over time to acquire, renovate, construct and equip the center, including the grocery store space. Those improvements were part of broader efforts to support East Side revitalization and improve access to fresh food.
That level of public investment reflects the city’s long-standing commitment to maintaining a grocery store at the site — and the importance city leaders place on getting this next attempt right.
Community Builders’ Role and What Went Wrong
Community Builders of Kansas City, a local nonprofit community development corporation, took over operations of the grocery store in 2019 after a previous operator exited, stepping in to prevent the neighborhood from losing its full-service grocery store.
The organization also operates a Sun Fresh location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in a shopping plaza it owns. That store has remained stable and does not face the same outside safety and security challenges present at the Linwood site. In both cases, Community Builders assumed operations after another operator left.
At the Linwood location, however, the company struggled with persistent issues beyond its control, including loitering, drug activity, prostitution and panhandling. Those conditions drove customers away and forced the organization to spend thousands of dollars per week on private security.
While empty shelves became visible in the final year of operation, Community Builders President and CEO Emmitt Pierson and city officials said the core issue was sustained net losses tied to theft, security costs and declining customer traffic. In 2024 alone, Community Builders reported losing more than $1.3 million operating the store.
The experience highlights the razor-thin margins common in grocery retail, where profits typically range from 1% to 3%, leaving little room to absorb theft, security expenses or drops in customer traffic.
A Different Model Proposed
City officials say United Market KC was selected after interviews with multiple candidates and because of its proposed operational approach.
The store will operate as a full-service grocery and is considering a membership-based access model, similar to Costco, intended to reduce theft and improve safety by limiting access to paying members.
United Market KC is also expected to be affiliated with Associated Wholesale Grocers, a Kansas City–based cooperative that supplies independent grocers with distribution, national and private-label products, and pricing programs designed to help keep shelves stocked and control costs. Associated Wholesale Grocers would not own or operate the store.
United Market will focus on workforce diversity and neighborhood representation, with projected wages ranging from about $15 to $28 per hour for skilled positions. Benefits options are still under review.
Anthony Estrada, the proposed operator, has said he brings more than 30 years of experience in grocery retail operations. City documents and publicly available records do not identify any previous grocery stores he has owned or operated.
Security, Funding and Open Questions
Security remains central to whether the store can succeed where others struggled.
Reportedly, the proposed lease includes the city paying the operator’s security costs for one year. The ordinance authorizing the lease — sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas and Councilmembers Melissa Robinson and Melissa Patterson Hazley — also includes language appropriating $1.5 million in support of the agreement.
The ordinance does not specify how the $1.5 million would be used, whether it is for or in addition to the proposed security support, or where the funds will come from. The lease itself has not yet been made public, and the rent United Market KC would pay has not been disclosed.
Other Proposed Supporting Changes
City leaders have also discussed expanding the Community Improvement District along the Linwood corridor. A CID is a special taxing district that collects additional sales tax to fund services such as security, maintenance and improvements. Expanding the district would increase available revenue for corridor upkeep beyond the store itself.
City officials have also outlined proposed law enforcement changes along Prospect Avenue, including plans for a new proactive police squad of six officers and one sergeant, continued coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors and judges, and an emphasis on accountability alongside wraparound services.
Rebuilding a Sense of Safety and Stability
For nearby residents, reopening the store is about more than restoring grocery access. It is about whether a sense of safety — inside and outside the store — and stability in the store’s operation can be maintained.
Membership controls, coordinated security and city involvement may help stabilize operations. But past experience shows grocery stores in high-risk environments operate on a narrow margin for error. If safety concerns resurface or key supports fall short, the same pressures that undermined previous efforts could return.
The reopening represents another chance — shaped by hard lessons — to determine whether long-term grocery access can finally take hold at Linwood and Prospect.