With a number of housing developments slated for the area in the coming years, more people are expected to move downtown. This increase is bringing hope to residents who are determined to see a grocery store in the core of the city.
Downtown Phoenix is known for its array of restaurants and eateries, but for years residents have voiced their concerns over the lack of a low-cost supermarket within walking distance. For people who want to buy their own ingredients and make their own meals, the closest option is Safeway on McDowell Road and Seventh Street, which requires a car or light-rail ride for most residents.
Eric Johnson, the deputy director of the Community and Economic Development Department with the City of Phoenix, said multiple developers are considering a grocery store as a possible tenant for ground-floor retail.
“The good news is we know that there are at least two stores pursuing different locations in downtown,” Johnson said. “We know of at least two possible sites that are being investigated, and while not every site will pan out, at least one of them should come to fruition in the next year or two.”
It can be tough for grocery stores to find the ideal location in an urban setting with limited space, and the development and construction process can be costly and time-consuming. This means it may take a few years before the shelves are stocked and the doors are open for customers, Johnson said.
“It’s a challenge to fit a grocery store and all the operational needs that they have into the block sizes that you have in an urban core,” he said. “Out in the suburbs, they have a lot more area.”
“The word ‘walkable’ is key, because we do have a grocery store just outside of downtown,” said Quinn Whissen, co-founder of the community organization This Could Be PHX. “But because it’s over the freeway on McDowell, it feels like it’s in another world.”
Whissen says the number of people moving downtown to live in the new developments will turn the idea of a large grocery store into a reality.
“It’s taking a little longer than people would have liked, but it’s inevitable with how fast the population is growing downtown,” Whissen said. “We have so much being built that the business pencils out for them.”
The higher the population, the more potential grocery stores we will see in downtown Phoenix, she said.
“In the last twelve months we’ve seen a huge ramp-up in the number of housing projects,” said Dan Klocke, the vice president of development for Downtown Phoenix Inc. “We have almost 1,500 housing units under construction.”
Klocke also said he thinks downtown will see a grocery store within the next few years.
“Everybody knows we need one,” he said. “It’s just a matter of trying to figure out how to make it work.”
Contact the reporter at rbouley@asu.edu
