Jackson’s southside closer to getting long-awaited grocery store
Posted By: mlive on February 12, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
Residents of Jackson’s southside have been requesting a local grocery store for years, and the city is getting closer to making that a reality.
The city of Jackson is advancing plans to develop a segment of land near the intersection of South Cooper Street and East Biddle Street, close to the Alma Machinery Co. building, with the intended goal of attracting a grocery store, City Manager Jonathan Greene said.
“We’re really in the beginning stages,” Greene said. “What’s exciting is that now we’re at the point where we have the land reasonably assembled and locked-down, now we can actually start to shop the property out to a developer.”
Greene said the location offers a lot to potential grocers, being in a critical part of the city with a high traffic volume.
The proposed location would allow for about 50,000 square feet of grocery store space, Greene said. The site is comprised of two parcels – one owned by the city and the other owned by Consumers Energy. Greene said city officials are working with the Jackson-based utility to acquire the land the company owns.
A development partner for the project has not yet been selected, and the cost of development is still being determined, Greene said. He said it is still not known when construction would begin since the timeline is market-driven and out of city’s control.
Early renderings of the store were shared Tuesday, Feb. 11 during a Jackson Chamber of Commerce event.
For many southside residents, the closest grocer is Kroger on Argyle Street, Polly’s Country Market on Spring Arbor Road or Meijer on E. Michigan Avenue. All these stores are a within a 15-minute drive from the neighborhood.
The food desert on Jackson’s southside is an issue that needs to be addressed to improve the quality of life of those living there, both residents and city officials say. Stepping up efforts to bring a grocery store to the area is one of the goals mentioned in Mayor Daniel Mahoney’s 2022 state of the city address.
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