“There are so many hurdles they have to get over just to shop for groceries,” he said. “There’s really nothing in this immediate area of West Dayton.”
But Homefull is investing about $20 million into creating the Homefull Grocery & Marketplace, which will feature a grocery store, regional food hub and medical and pharmacy services.
Local residents and neighborhood leaders say this is a big project that should have a big positive impact on the community.
“We support everything that they’re doing,” said John L. Wortham III, chair of the Southwest Priority Board. “We can’t wait — southwest Dayton can’t wait.”
Last March, Homefull broke ground on a 48,000-square-foot facility on the 800 block of South Gettysburg Avenue, which was vacant land that used to be Carlson Elementary School.
The project will create a new grocery store (12,000 square feet), a food hub (3,500 square feet), a Kettering Health primary care doctor’s office (3,000 square feet) and a Ziks family pharmacy (700 square feet).
The food hub will give small- to mid-sized local growers a place to sell their produce to institutional buyers.
The two-story facility will have administrative offices upstairs, plus a 1,500-square-foot community event space and about 6,000 square feet of customizable, build-out space for potential partners to lease, Patterson said.
This project will bring healthy living options to a food desert and a lower income area that has limited dining and shopping options. This is a unique and special project because it has many components, Patterson said.
The area right now mainly has mom-and-pop markets, small food marts, gas stations and fast-food and carryout businesses.
Homefull’s facility will be in walking distance of many southwest Dayton residents, and there are also bus stops nearby, for people who can’t get there on foot alone, Patterson said.
Patterson said he hopes the entire community patronizes Homefull’s new store, which will have special amenities and experiences.
“I kind of envision it as the old neighborhood grocery store, like some of the ones that have closed, where everyone knows your name and it’s a family experience,” said Patterson.
The Dayton VA Medical Center is just north of the property, and its employees and visitors hopefully will utilize the grocery store, said Trudy Elder, chief strategic officer of Homefull.
Homefull wants its store employees to get to know their customers and build relationships, Elder said.
The project site straddles the Fairlane and Pineview neighborhoods, and the trade area’s population base is about 25,000 people, Elder said.
“It’s in such a good spot, right next to U.S. 35,” she said.
The project likely will be completed in stages, and construction could wrap up on some parts of the project this fall, possibly in the fourth quarter.
Homefull wants to redevelop the entire 16-acre site, and future uses could include housing and child care and educational services. Homefull has talked about investing about $50 million into the site.
“We’re still working through what that could look like and we’re trying to again get feedback (from the community) about what is most needed,” Elder said. “We really want to make sure we do right by that area, because we’re there for the long-term.”
Elder said the project will only be a success if the community shops at the store and utilizes services at the facility.
Wortham, chair of the Southwest Priority Board, said southwest Dayton has been a food desert for years.
Wortham said some residents do not have reliable transportation and can’t easily get to existing grocery stores, including some elderly community members. Some of the closest major full-service grocery stores include Kroger on West Siebenthaler Avenue in northwest Dayton, a Kroger store in Moraine and a Meijer store just south of that.
Homefull’s new facility will provide convenient access to healthy foods within the community and the project also will bring new jobs and services, said Lisa Parker Rucker, president of the Pineview Neighborhood Association.
Homefull has programs in about 17 counties and serves more than 2,000 households each day.
The nonprofit’s services include rental assistance, permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, case management, food programs, property management and employment training.
The Homefull Grocery & Marketplace is being paid for using tax credits, private donations, philanthropic and corporate support and local, state and federal dollars.
Homefull’s Family Living Center is just south of the project site, which is the largest permanent supportive housing complex for families in Montgomery County (34 units). About 100 children live in the complex, which spans about four acres.
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