What a difference a month makes.

On Feb. 13, University Place neighborhood residents formed a group called Release the Lease to protest Hy-Vee’s  lease restriction that prevents another grocery store from occupying the space it is vacating at 48th Street and Leighton Avenue.

On Friday, after weeks of neighborhood criticism and media coverage, Hy-Vee announced plans to develop a new format that will keep a grocery store in the area.

The company’s plans include what it calls a smaller concept store of 20,000 to 25,000 square feet in the old Hy-Vee, which is closing for good on Sunday.

The store will be a first-of-its-kind experiment for Hy-Vee, which has been closing smaller stores and building only large supermarkets for several years.

Hy-Vee spokeswoman Chris Friesleben said details, including a timetable and name, are being worked out.

“There are some names being considered, but no decisions have been made,” Friesleben said.

She said the store’s name likely will be something other than Hy-Vee.

 In a news release, the company said the smaller store will have less variety than a traditional Hy-Vee store, but customers will find most products that are in its larger stores, including produce, dairy and meat departments.

“We think there is a value in developing a smaller store model with a limited assortment of merchandise,” Hy-Vee CEO Ric Jurgens said in a statement. “It was important to us to come up with a format that would be intriguing, practical and successful. We think we’ve found one.”

Diane Walkowiak, a member of Release the Lease, said that as described, the store would be acceptable to the neighborhood.

“If this store does indeed go into University Place, we will be satisfied,” she said. “All we have ever wanted is to retain a reasonably sized grocery store.”

Hy-Vee said the store’s floor plans are being drawn up, and more details will be released within four to six weeks.

Once plans are approved, the company said, it will set a timetable for construction and re-opening.

Friesleben couldn’t say when the new store might open.

“We’re trying to figure it out right now,” she said.

While she said Hy-Vee plans to move forward quickly, the company wants to make sure it gets everything right.

In the meantime, the company plans to offer a free shuttle bus four days a week to the new store at 84th and Holdrege streets, which is set to open at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

For neighbors, that likely will be an acceptable short-term inconvenience, considering they could have been without a neighborhood grocery store for years.

Hy-Vee had come under heavy criticism from Uni Place residents and some current and former city officials because of lease terms that allowed it to keep another grocery store from occupying the space until 2014.

The company said the lease restriction is a standard procedure to protect the $30 million investment it is making in new Lincoln stores at 84th and Holdrege streets and 50th and O streets.

The lease restriction came to the forefront during a January City Council meeting during which Councilmen Doug Emery, John Spatz and Jonathan Cook voted against a liquor license renewal at another Hy-Vee store to show their displeasure over the company’s decision on the University Place store.

“I never thought that a single vote on the council to express displeasure with a policy could take on this magnitude,” said Emery, who represents northeast Lincoln, which includes the Uni Place area.

Emery said the issue was never about “denigrating” Hy-Vee.

Instead, it was about trying to get the company to re-examine an inflexible corporate policy that on the local level had the potential to be devastating to a neighborhood.

He praised Hy-Vee for changing its plans.

“I applaud their effort. I applaud the fact that they listened,” Emery said. “I think it is a win-win for everybody.”

He also said Hy-Vee’s change of heart proves “you can make a difference.”

Walkowiak agreed.

“This definitely proves that community activism can work. It can make a difference; it did make a difference in this situation,” she said. “In one month, we were able to turn things around.”

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.