Push continues for Greenfield Street grocery rebuild
The store was lost with the rest of the
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
"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
"There are other food distributors in the community that have also approached them," he added.
Both Saffo and Arcos said investment in
"Being on
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
Were the maps to be updated, the area would likely qualify; from
"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
Opportunity zone
One factor that could make the
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
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
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
"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
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