Land clearing begins for $45M Kroger Marketplace

Store expected to open fall 2027

Engineering and land clearing crews are shown Monday morning, Aug. 10, at the 31-acre Kroger Marketplace shopping center and development at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Cypress Lake Road. (JIM HEALY/staff)

Kroger 1.jpg — Engineering and land clearing crews are shown Monday morning, Aug. 10, at the 31-acre Kroger Marketplace shopping center and development at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Cypress Lake Road. (JIM HEALY/staff)

Land clearing began last week on a 31-acre mixed-use development at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Cypress Lake Drive that will have at its center a 100,000-square foot Kroger Marketplace.

In a statement released last week, Monica Garnes, president of Kroger's Atlanta Division, said: "We are thrilled to begin construction on this beautiful new Kroger Marketplace and bring a fresh, convenient shopping experience to Statesboro. We are also excited to serve the faculty, staff and students of Georgia Southern University as we become an active partner in the broader Statesboro community."

Kroger officials said they expect the store to open in fall 2027.

Kroger 2.jpg — Shown Monday, Aug. 10, from Veteran's Memorial Parkway is part of the 31-acre Kroger Marketplace development. Land clearing for the $45 million project began last week at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Cypress Lake Road. (JIM HEALY/staff)

Southeastern Property Acquisitions LLC, based in Augusta, received zoning approval for the $45-million development from the city of Statesboro for 28 acres in December 2026 and an adjoining three-acre tract from Bulloch County in January with the addresses 6850 Cypress Lake Road and 7406 Veterans Memorial Parkway, at the intersection.

Southeastern intends to make the 99,992-square-foot Kroger the anchor destination of the shopping center. For comparison, the Publix store, not counting outbuildings, covers about 49,000 square feet and the Walmart Supercenter about 186,000.

Kroger Location Map.jpg — In this aerial photo, a 5.22-acre parcel and a 23.15-acre parcel, which combined form the 28.37-acre tract proposed for rezoning, are outlined in red. This image is oriented differently from the site sketch. Here, the bypass is in the lower left corner and Cypress Lake Road runs upward at an angle along the left edge of the tract. (Courtesy Statesboro Department of Planning and Development)

The Kroger center also would feature a Kroger Fuel Center and four more-or-less one-acre outparcels for restaurants, stores or shops. Additionally, but only within the portion inside the city limits, the plan calls for further residential development, with perhaps 70 home lots on the side abutting the existing Whispering Pines neighborhood.

Kroger 3.jpg — Located on Cypress Lake Road is the only structure still standing on the 31-acre development — a circa-1960 single-family house, which will be removed, along with the wooded acreage around it. (JIM HEALY/staff)

The developers are proposing a total of five access points, one being a right-in/right-out-only opening from the westbound side of Veterans Memorial Parkway. Two of the access points on Cypress Lake Road would be open entrance-and-exit points, and one would be a right-in/right-out-only. A fifth access point on Cypress Lake Road has yet to be determined with the future residential development phase.

Kroger Plan.jpg — This site plan for the almost 100,000-square-foot Kroger supermarket, accompanied by a Kroger Fuel Center plus four outparcels for other businesses, is oriented with Cypress Lake Road at the bottom and Veterans Memorial Parkway along the right-hand side. To the left is a residential area, to fit with the existing Whispering Pines development, making this a "mixed use" project. (Courtesy Statesboro Department of Planning and Development)

Also, a charitable arm of the grocery store — Kroger Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation — gave a $10,000 grant to the Statesboro Food Bank in December 2025. In her statement, Garnes said Kroger would continue that initiative.

"Through Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan, we will work alongside local community partners to support hunger-relief programs and help reduce food insecurity throughout the region."

Kroger 4.jpg — Land cleared on the south side of an existing home on Cypress Lake Road for the Kroger Marketplace project is shown Monday, Aug. 10, with Veterans Memorial Parkway in the right rear of the photo. (JIM HEALY/staff)

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