A new grocery store, Price Rite, will be built on the South Side of Syracuse in an area known as a “food desert,” or a place without access to grocery stores.

The Price Rite, which will be on the corner of South and Bellevue avenues, will receive tax relief for 10 years, said Walt Dixie, executive director of Jubilee Homes of Syracuse Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Syracuse’s Southwest side.

For the first seven years, there will be no taxes at all on the property, Dixie said, but for the remaining three years of tax relief, the amount of taxes on the property will be at a slightly lower than average rate, he added.

The tax agreement was introduced in a Common Council meeting on Feb. 8 by Councilor Khalid Bey, who represents the neighborhood where the Price Rite will be built. The council approved a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Agreement among the city of Syracuse, the City of Syracuse Industrial Development Agency (SIDA) and Jubilee Homes of Syracuse Inc., according to the meeting minutes.

Bey said the proposal was approved because the South Side has not had a grocery store for the last 30 years. Bey, who lives in this area, said people have to travel a few miles to reach the closest store.

Dixie said the tax relief agreement makes it much easier to construct the store.

“That structure will make it affordable for the developer to build,” Dixie said. “Today’s economy, there is no model to build supermarkets in neighborhoods.”

The new store will provide more than just economic relief to a low-income area, Bey said.

“Well I think the hidden value of this kind of effort is the convenience of having easy access, even for those who could walk to the store,” Bey said. “So the benefits, on top of the jobs and easy access, is the cost savings. Some people don’t have to budget in the cost of transportation.”

Jonnell Robinson, an assistant professor of geography at Syracuse University, said the new Price Rite will make it much easier for families to have access to a complete food basket.

“Price Rite is going to be phenomenally helpful,” Robinson said. “Thinking about a family that doesn’t have access to private transportation, if it is in your neighborhood, in your activity pattern, it’s much easier to go the grocery store.”

Bey said instead of grocery stores, the South Side of Syracuse has an abundance of corner stores that sell junk food. Giving people access to fresh produce will provide an opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle, he said.

Jubilee Homes of Syracuse Inc., plans to construct the 34,840 square foot store over the next six or seven months, Dixie said. The goal is for the store to be ready before Thanksgiving, he said.

The project will cost about $5.3 million, according to the Common Council meeting minutes. Dixie said the state, county, city and private developers are all investing in the Price Rite.

The site once housed an old supermarket that closed in 1970, and Price Rite will renovate and expand this building, according to Syracuse.com.

The project will create 85 new jobs, according to the meeting notes.

Dixie said once the store is established, it will be able to boast more than 100 jobs. He added that the Price Rite will hopefully begin a movement for revitalizing the area.

“It’s in the main artery of South Avenue,” Dixie said. “We hope there is a ripple effect.”

 

Published on February 23, 2016 at 11:23 pm

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