After fire, Village Plaza’s future unknown
The
"I wish I had information that I could pass on to you, but it's all dependent on the insurance companies," he said. "Since I've never been through this before, I have no reference as far as how long it will take or what their decision process is."
But even if the plaza and its tenants rebuild, neighbors are left without a grocery store in the interim.
"The thing I tell everybody is, 'Who's going to own this project?'," McCrossan asked. "Everyone's been talking about this fire and the issue it's caused in the neighborhood, but we need it to go from talking to action."
Food desert?
The neighborhood around
The
Since the loss of Everybody's, the
While a handful of stores like
A short-term fix for residents could be a Nourish N.C. pop-up grocery store near the Everybody's location. McCrossan said he hopes to announce the details of the pop-up market this week.
The Good Shepherd Center, which sits just a block from
"I think we were kind of bracing ourselves for extra numbers, but it's been manageable," she said. "It's kind of ironic that it's our own neighborhood here, but if it's going to happen, I suppose better it happens in a neighborhood where folks can just walk to us."
Long-term solution
A seemingly endless stream of Aldis,
"I think it'll be a long time till there's a grocery store there for real," McCrossan said. "Those big chains have formulas they go by. It's a certain amount of people, it's a certain level of income, it's a certain number of cars. And if you don't meet that, they don't come."
Instead, McCrossan said he hopes to see local groups take on the Greenfield food desert.
He pointed to
"If we can find a model that works, we would like to replicate what we can in other parts of
But whatever grocer -- if any -- comes to
"People lost a place of worship, we lost a restaurant where people congregated, we lost a barber shop," McCrossan said. "It wasn't just a grocery store."
Reporter
___
(c)2018 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)
Visit the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) at www.starnewsonline.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
EDITORIAL: We are still learning
Madison-based insurer buys Health Tradition, saving it from closure
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News