Birmingham Council Approves Incentives Package To Bring Grocery Store To District 1
This now-vacant store is to be a new grocery store in Roebuck.
The Birmingham City Council has approved an incentives package to bring a new grocery store to the city’s Roebuck neighborhood as part of a larger initiative to reduce food deserts in Birmingham.
The agreement will include an initial payment of $200,000, then up to an additional $1.6 million, based on the store’s performance, spread out over seven years.
The store, tentatively named The Price Butcher, will be at 1125 Huffman Road, the former location of a Sav-A-Lot, and will “double the amount of fresh produce in the area (and) double the sales area for meat,” Josh Carpenter, the city’s director of innovation and economic opportunity, told the council during a Monday night committee meeting.
“It’s going to expand the food options for the citizens of District 1,” Carpenter said.
The initial $200,000 payment will come from the city’s healthy food initiative, which was created last year to attract new grocery stores to areas of the city that don’t have them. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 69% of Birmingham residents live in food deserts. An East Lake grocery store, Village Market, was given a similar incentive package last year to upgrade its facilities.
Carpenter described the process of bringing the new store to Roebuck as “a year-and-a-half-long courtship” with Dan’s Inc., the company that will manage the store. Attorney Randall Minor, representing the developers, told the council that the building would require “light renovation” but that the store should be open to the public “before Christmas.”
District 1 Councilor Clinton Woods said he hopes the new store will make the shopping center, which is next to Huffman High School, “a true anchor in the community.”
“I think they’ve found a good structure that creates a really good partnership between us,” he said during Tuesday’s meeting. “The one consistent thing I heard (from residents when I took office) was, ‘We don’t have a grocery store at all!’ To see that actually happen and all come together … . I think that’s incredible.”
The council unanimously approved the agreement.
The city of Birmingham also declared this year’s Election Day, Nov. 3, as a one-time unpaid holiday for city employees. City Hall will be closed and the city council meeting scheduled for that day will be pushed to Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Millions face wintry weather for what could be a record-setting holiday travel season
More than 119 million people are expected to travel for Christmas and Hanukkah, which both fall on the same day this year, through the New Year, according to AAA.
Review by Senate Democrats finds more unreported luxury trips by Clarence Thomas
A report by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee found additional travel taken in 2021 by Thomas but not reported on his annual financial disclosure, including trips on private jets and a yacht trip.
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 20, including five children
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 20 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said.
I discovered one way to fight loneliness: The Germans call it a Stammtisch
Modern life can be lonely. Some are looking to an old German tradition – of drinking and conversation – to deepen connection through regular meetups.
This Christmas I’ll be grieving. Here’s how I’ll be finding joy.
Since her husband's death, newscaster Windsor Johnston has been looking for ways to recapture joy and continue her healing journey — one that's taken her to a place she'd never expected.
On tap for the holidays: A blend of multicultural drink traditions and fond memories
For this year's All Things Considered holiday cocktail interview, we visited Providencia in Washington, D.C., a bar that brings its owners' personal stories to life.
