Midland Atlantic, the new owner of the Shoppes at Northwoods on Northwoods Boulevard, intends to “clean up the center a little bit,” find a tenant for the one open storefront and lure one or more businesses to the center’s outlot space.

A 69,000-square-foot Kroger store anchors the shopping center.

“We’ve done a lot of work with centers with other Kroger stores,” said Chris Palermo of Midland Atlantic in Cincinnati. “This is a strong-performing Kroger store with a lot of traffic. We’re excited.”

The purchase price of the 16 acres and 89,000 square fee of retail space was $7.6 million. The buyer is listed as MO Northwoods LLC.

There currently are two restaurants, a hair salon, a tanning store, a loan company, a discount store and the Kroger store at the center.

“We also have room for some outlot business,” Palermo said. “We not only draw from Vandalia, but Tipp City, too.”

Even though there are about 200 homes in a development just south of Northwoods, there is no connecting road.

“The residents didn’t want one, although there is a walking path,” Vandalia City Manager Rob Anderson said. “They didn’t want all the traffic coming through.”

He said there is other acreage going east to Cassel Road the city would like to develop as light industrial, Anderson said.

“Right now, having an active owner of the Shoppes is a lot better for us,” Anderson said.