City Council unanimously approved an $850,000 taxpayer-backed grant to keep a grocery store at Gateway Town Center in Northwest Jacksonville.
The bill, approved Dec. 10, awaits Mayor Lenny Curry’s signature.
Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. requested the incentives to fill the space at Gateway that Publix will vacate by the end of the year.
Publix, which has anchored the Northwest Jacksonville shopping center for 20 years, announced in October it would not renew its lease with landlord Gator Investments LLC and will vacate by Dec. 28.
If signed by Curry, the money will be pulled from the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund to “offset costs associated with redeveloping and outfitting” the Publix space.
If the Gateway area is left without a grocery store, it would create a food desert for the neighborhood’s residents. The city’s economic development office considers a food desert as an area without a grocery store located within a mile.
Council earmarked $3 million from the trust fund in 2018 to address food deserts in the city’s northwest area.
Winn-Dixie is owned by Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers.
Southeastern Grocers spokesman Joe Caldwell said via email Dec. 10 that the company did not have a comment on the bill's passage.
On Nov. 26, when asked to confirm that Gator Investments and Winn-Dixie had come to a lease agreement at Gateway, Caldwell said Winn-Dixie believes “this story will have a very happy ending in the first quarter of 2020.”
“We are making all reasonable efforts to bring this unique opportunity to life for the North Jacksonville community, provided that all concerned parties can deliver upon their respective agreements in principle,” he said.
A project summary attached to the legislation states the city will fund up to $850,000 — 40% of the overall investment — to redevelop the property. The grant money will go toward furnishings, fixtures and capital improvements to the building and property.
Winn-Dixie is required to provide matching funds, covering costs associated with tenant build-out.
The grant will be issued after a certificate of occupancy is issued to Winn-Dixie and the company provides documentation of the investment.
City economic development officials said the agreement will include a clawback provision to ensure the retail space continues to operate as a grocery store.
The city would be reimbursed by Winn-Dixie on a sliding scale at the rate of 20% of the grant amount per year — $170,000 — over five years.
If the store fails to continue to operate, the remaining term of the agreement will determine the amount due back to the city.
Since Lakeland-based Publix's announcement, Gateway and city officials have been trying to identify a permanent grocery tenant.
Rowe’s IGA Supermarkets owner Rob Rowe said Nov. 10 he decided against leasing the space after he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate terms with the landlord.
