The city is not getting any new parking spaces for the East Gainesville food project

The city of Gainesville received no new proposals this week to develop a community grocery store to the east of the city, meaning one put forward by a Jacksonville firm a few months ago is the only one under consideration.

But a local long-time grocery chain that wanted to make a proposal says it was banned from the process, which a local real estate agent said was “tainted”.

City commissioners wanted other companies to submit proposals before negotiating a deal with Fred Washington, the managing partner of Southern Accommodations LLC of Jacksonville. He has asked for $ 3.3 million in tax dollars to open a community grocery store that would be gradually paid back over the years as long as the store stayed open.

The city was tendering for proposals last month, and the deadline expired on Thursday afternoon with no new bids.

The city used funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and / or funds from the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area to promote a community grocery store of at least 20,000 square feet for East Gainesville.

Patricia Lee, an agent for Gainesville Realty Partners, who works for Keller Williams Realty, said Hitchcock’s, an Alachua-based grocery chain that has been in business for more than 75 years, was keen to make a proposal. But the company, which she believes will be a perfect fit for the location, has essentially been left out of the process, she said.

Lee said she reached out to the city a year and a half ago to discuss Hitchcock’s opening of the same type of community food project that Washington is proposing in the same square at 2302 Hawthorne Road. But Lee said her suggestion was all but ignored by the city guides.

Rossana Passaniti, a city spokeswoman, said in an email that Gainesville City Manager Lee Feldman had a conversation with Lee about the possibility of expanding his presence from Hitchcock’s Market to Gainesville.

“However, he did not share her opinion that the city should buy the vacant mall on Hawthorne Road to house the grocery store. Mr. Feldman has reached out to the Hitchcock representative as Ms. Lee suggested but received no replies to his voicemails, ”Passaniti wrote.

Lee, who runs the nonprofit Tea Foundation Assistance Network Inc., said she intends to apply for grants to run the community shop and said she needed a letter of support from the city.

Lee said Friday that she never asked the city to buy the vacant mall, as Feldman claims. In fact, she said she never asked the city for a specific dollar amount for the project.

“I asked them if they could help, would they help, and that’s it,” she said. “You showed no interest.”

Lee said, after seeing what she saw as preferential treatment for Washington – including permission to give him a full presentation to the city commissioner – that she vented her frustration in a letter to city commissioners.

“What (city officials) fail to do means the city is spending a lot more money now than it would have if it worked with us last year,” Lee wrote. “It also means that it spoiled our ability to apply for a $ 2.5 million grant last year and a $ 800,000 grant this year.”

Lee also said that Hitchcock’s would be a perfect fit with East Gainesville as it “has always supported local farmers and has the interest, skills and experience to bring interesting and valuable food to our mostly African American community in Gainesville East”.

Giselle Alvarez, whose family owns the Hitchcock grocery chain, confirmed the chain was interested in investing in the same mall a year and a half ago, but said city officials didn’t seem interested.

She said they wanted to propose this time again, but didn’t when they learned Washington had tied property on the mall.

Alvarez said it would be too expensive for Hitchcock to build a new building for the East Gainesville store.

“I think we would be a great local grocery store in this area to help improve the food wasteland,” she said.

Mayor Lauren Poe said he couldn’t remember hearing about Hitchcock’s interest in developing the grocery store a year and a half ago.

“The city never owned this property,” he said. “The process we’re in right now is the reason we’re in it right now because the property owner came up to us.”

Washington said its project was modeled on a Brandon Bravo community shop run by business partner Richard Sanchez.

Washington said its plans include common spaces, rented booths, a doctor’s office, credit union, coffee bar, salad bar, cafeteria and fresh fish counter.

Earlier this week, Washington said it still hoped to move the project forward.

Even if a Save-a-Lot, Food Lion and others didn’t make it to this place, he said he believed the Bravo will be different.

“We hope Bravo will attract people because it’s a specialty niche market,” Washington said. “I mean it would be tailored to the tastes and preferences of the consumer,” he said.

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