JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neighbors living near the Harvey’s Supermarket on West 48th Street were facing the possibility of living in a food desert, with the grocery store slated for closure.
But after the closure became a sticking point in negotiations over a multi-million dollar incentive deal to keep Winn-Dixie’s headquarters in Jacksonville, the grocery chain has committed to keeping the store open.
As part of the incentive package, the city would pay Winn-Dixie $12 million in exchange for a commitment from the grocer to invest $65 million over 20 years and add 200 local six-figure salary jobs.
“I don’t have any problem with Winn-Dixie being in Jacksonville, Florida. But that’s a lot of money to close a store,” said Reverend Reginald Gundy with the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church.
Gundy and other faith leaders raised concerns about the deal during the Council Finance Committee meeting Wednesday.
He argued that while the deal may have sounded appealing on paper, the community living near the Harvey’s Supermarket on West 48th Street only stood to lose, as the store was slated for closure, even if the deal went through.
“That particular store was not on their radar,” Gundy said. ”They were gonna close it and that was it.”
The Council Finance Committee put the entire incentive deal on pause after learning about the issue during that meeting, especially after Winn-Dixie representatives acknowledged the West 48th Street Harvey’s was a “reasonably strong” performing store.
Councilmember Ju’Coby Pittman (D-District 10), whose district includes the store, explained that closing it would create a new food desert in an already under-resourced neighborhood.
“You’re taking out of a community that is a low-income community who needs a grocery store with fresh produce and food,” Pittman said.
Pittman told Action News Jax Thursday afternoon that she got a call from Winn-Dixie representatives Wednesday night, telling her they’d agree to the new terms and keep the store open to keep the incentive package moving forward.
“And if we all agree, then we’ll be happy to support Winn-Dixie staying here because the Davis family has proven that they love this community and they’ve invested in this community for many years,” Pittman said.
Pittman is still hosting a meeting on the West 48th Street Harvey’s issue on Friday.
She said she hopes to hammer out amendment language protecting the store during the meeting.
That language would then be added to the incentive deal before the final vote Tuesday night.
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