EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The city is spending $16,500 on a new study to determine a mixed-use development’s potential on North Main Street.
Since a Buehler’s Buy Low store closed in January 2018 due to low sales, city officials have aggressively courted a new grocery to serve the surrounding Jacobsville and Jimtown neighborhoods, which are among Evansville’s poorest.
Houchens Industries of Bowling Green, Kentucky, operated the Buehler’s Buy Low store. The city in summer 2018 spent $5,500 to study the potential of fuel sales at the site, in the hope Houchens would consider a gas station and smaller grocery.
Houchens passed, however, and so did an Indianapolis developer that recently considered a similar project at the same location.
The Evansville Redevelopment Commission voted 5-0 on Tuesday to approve a new study, which will evaluate the North Main Street site for a “mixed-use” development that could include residences as well as a grocery, but not fuel sales.
A developer is exploring such a project, city officials said. They declined to name the entity.
The $16,500 study will be paid from Jacobsville Tax Increment Financing. MTN Retail Advisors will do the evaluation.
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“This is to see if a grocery store can make money at this location, given all the surrounding stores, given the community that’s there and the projected growth of that community,” said Randy Alsman, president of the Redevelopment Commission.
Although the Buehler’s Buy Low was not profitable, it was a source of fresh food for nearby residents, including those without vehicles.
In April, the Promise Zone began a three-month pilot program offering trolley rides from the neighborhood to Ruler Foods on Morgan Avenue. The city, Old National Bank and Vectren Foundation contributed.
Feeding the Promise Zone is a new transportation pilot program that helps residents living in the Zone get to local grocery stores. Segann March, Courier & Press
The city two years ago completed a $14 million renovation of North Main Street that included new lighting and pedestrian paths.
City officials have identified Jacobsville and Jimtown as priority neighborhoods for new affordable housing, and the Deaconess Aquatic Center, an indoor swimming facility, is planned for Garvin Park.
Alsman said the city considers a grocery an important puzzle piece for the area.
“The idea is for all of those people who live around there to have a full-service grocery available to them,” he said.
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