By Scott Buttram
Last month, two more businesses were showing interest in the former Food World building on Main Street in Trussville. Now, it looks as if one business is close to committing to part of the building.
The Downtown Redevelopment Authority heard tonight from Retail Specialist representative Bill Clements that it is close to a deal with an independent grocer. The business would occupy 23,000 square feet of the building, which has a total of 38,000 square feet.
“I’m pretty encouraged,” Trussville City Councilman Buddy Choat said. “This group is known for catering their stores to fit the area where they are located. They have been interested for quite a while. I’m hopeful that the authority will have a called meeting pretty soon to close the deal.”
At least one member of the authority has visited one of the grocer’s stores and told Choat he was impressed with what he saw.
The potential tenant, who was not identified, has stores in Greenville, Montgomery and Chattanooga, Tenn., and has gone as far as discussing names for the Trussville location.
The former Food World on Main Street in Trussville closed in 2010.
file photo by Gary Lloyd
“They would like to pick a name to suit the redevelopment plans for downtown,” Choat said.
He also said there still seems to be interest in the remaining 15,000 square feet from several health clubs.
“There are three that are interested, but all of them have recently opened gyms in other areas,” Choat said. “They are all kind of in the middle of that, so (that) might take a little while
. But having a grocer in part of the property will make the other side more appealing.”
Retail Specialist was retained by the DRA to help sublease the space under the control of the authority. The contract with the company was not renewed recently, but the group said at the time that it would continue to work to lease the space.
