By Gary Lloyd
Trussville’s Downtown Redevelopment Authority on Thursday night approved final lease negotiations for two tenants to occupy the vacant Food World building on Main Street.
The tenants will be an independent grocer owned by Triple N Enterprises and 24e Fitness.
Downtown Redevelopment Authority chairman Jef Freeman said the two tenants are “pretty good for us.”
The final hurdle in the nearly two-year attempt to attract businesses to the vacant Food World will be the Trussville City Council approving the leases. This resolution will likely appear on the July 23 city council agenda.
No information about the leases was provided at Thursday night’s meeting.
Some Trussville fitness center owners were at Thursday’s meeting to ask questions and voice opinions. Most asked about possible tax abatements or incentives for the fitness center. Anytime Fitness owner Rick Plourde said the location of a new fitness center is “problematic” for his business, which is also on Main Street. He also said Trussville is “saturated” with fitness centers.
Freeman said there is no sales tax abatement possibility for a fitness center to locate in part of the vacant Food World on Main Street. He said the fitness center didn’t ask for nor will receive any incentives to possibly locate in the shopping center.
All incentives or sales tax abatements for the grocer will be determined by the city council.
“We get them on the hook, and (the city council) reels them in,” said authority member Joe Howle.
The redevelopment authority also approved up to $6,000 for repairs to get the air conditioning working in the former Food World. The roof was recently replaced and repaired, Freeman said.
Retail Specialists, Inc. asked the Trussville City Council in May to consider abating a portion of city sales tax that would total $800,000 over a four-year period for a grocer to locate in a portion of the building.
The city has spent about $22,000 per month for rent on the building since leasing it in October 2011. The city spent $250,000 to end a 15-year lease with America’s Thrift Stores, which had planned to open a store there.
The Food World building has been vacant since 2010.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.