The official line from Whole Foods is that all is well with the Minyard’s deal, and, says spokesman Scott Simons: "Rest assured that we’re still targeting Spring of ’08 as the opening date." Simons adds that Whole Foods is about to hire an architect and that demolition of the old Minyard’s should take place this summer.
On the other hand, there are persistent rumors that something is delaying the new store, which was originally supposed to open at the end of this year. That was the plan, anyway, when Whole Foods announced the deal in February. I checked with Bulldog Cunningham, who is on the city plan commission, and he says there don’t appear to be any zoning problems.
One possible hang-up: The land has two owners — the largest piece, which has an Abrams address and includes the old store and most of the parking lot, is owned by the Aleff Trust in Boca Raton, Fla., according to information from the Dallas County Appraisal District web site (1-B on the map at the link). The smaller piece, which is at the southern end of the parking lot (2-B), is owned by Janet Dines Meridith, part of a long-time Lakewood family with extensive real estate holdings in the neighborhood. If Whole Foods is having trouble getting use of the second, smaller piece, that could account for the delay.
