Push continues for Greenfield Street grocery rebuild

Aug. 16--WILMINGTON -- In the past several months, Wilmington resident Kelsi Arcos has petitioned, pounded the pavement, called developers and grocery store chains, and spoken time and time again to elected officials. All of this has been in pursuit of a grocery store, one to replace what was lost when Everybody's Supermarket at 1022 Greenfield St. burned to the ground in May 2018.

The store was lost with the rest of the Village Plaza shopping center, which was later razed and has since been bought by Cameron Management.

This June, Arcos spoke before city council, saying that a member of the Cameron team had said a grocery store was off the table for redevelopment of the site. But Arcos urged council members to reach out to the company, and since then Mayor Bill Saffo says he's learned a grocery store or other food-service vendors could still be considered.

"I did speak to a representative from the Cameron company that indicated that they were not opposed to putting a grocery store there," Saffo said. "Whoever they negotiate with, whether it be Piggly Wiggly, Food Lion, whoever it is, it has to make economic sense for them.

"There are other food distributors in the community that have also approached them," he added.

Both Saffo and Arcos said investment in Wilmington's up-and-coming South Front district has the potential to work its way up Greenfield Street. Arcos noted that since the loss of Farmin' on Front -- a downtown Wilmington grocer -- after Hurricane Florence, people of all income levels in the downtown area need a grocery store.

"Being on Greenfield Street would actually benefit everyone," she said.

Need for food

Parts of Southside -- and all of downtown -- are included in a federally recognized food desert, census tracts with high levels of low-income residents that are a half-mile or more from the nearest supermarket.

But the most recent food desert maps from the USDA are based on 2015 data, from when Everybody's was still standing. So much of Greenfield Street, and the surrounding low-income communities, are not included in those federal food deserts.

Were the maps to be updated, the area would likely qualify; from Houston Moore Terrace to Food Lion on Oleander Drive, the nearest full-service grocery store, is a more than a 1-mile walk. Residents are likely to rely on the area's several dollar and convenience stores for food. A Family Dollar sits just across the street from Houston Moore.

"I'm sorry, but Family Dollar doesn't have fresh food -- who wants to eat collards out of a can?," Arcos said. "And frozen chicken strips, how long can you feed that to children and expect them to be as healthy as other children?"

Grocery chains consider a wide variety of factors before opening a store, including incomes in the surrounding neighborhood and proximity to other locations.

This month, Arcos reached out to Piggly Wiggly about locating on Greenfield Street. According to information provided to Arcos by a regional manager, Piggly Wiggly requires potential store owners to conduct a market research study, and get approval from other Piggly Wiggly owners within 20 miles of the store. There is an existing location in Leland.

Piggly Wiggly estimates getting a new grocery store off the ground costs at least $800,000.

Opportunity zone

One factor that could make the Village Plaza property attractive to investors is its location with a Federal Opportunity Zone.

Opportunity Zones, established under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, are "economically-distressed" areas now eligible for certain tax benefits for developers who invest there. Four have been identified in Wilmington, including the Southside.

To reap the full tax benefits of the program, developers have to have invested in opportunity zones before the end of 2019.

Arcos said she was heartened to see that Cameron Management lists another of its nearby properties the AT&T building at 1507 Greenfield St. as "sale pending." The listing for that property notes it is in an opportunity zone, and advises "buyers may wish to continue to use this facility for office/distribution from a mid-town location or they may wish to redevelop this site for restaurants & retail."

While petitioning this spring and summer to rebuild the grocery store, Arcos, who formerly worked in social services, estimates she got about 600 signatures.

Though she's excited to hear Cameron is open to bringing a food vendor to Greenfield Street, see says at this point she's exhausted her expertise. Bringing the project home, she said, will require a push from officials and business leaders.

"That's encouraging when he says they're open to it," she said. "OK, now what? Can we get some government officials and community members to help?

"Somebody is going to have to take the helm."

Reporter Cammie Bellamy can be reached at 910-343-2339 or Cammie.Bellamy@StarNewsOnline.com.

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