TAMPA, Fla. – The new Publix store in the West River District of Tampa is officially open.
The store, which opened on Thursday morning, is located at 1700 North Boulevard, and is across the street from Howard Blake High School.
The area is the focus of major development that also includes a project that will extend the Riverwalk.
What they’re saying:
Tampa Housing Authority’s President and CEO Jerome Ryans says a premier grocery store like Publix opening in what was a food desert is a defining moment in the transformation of the community.
“It is just a tremendous opportunity for this area,” Ryans said. “This has been a food desert for a while. To have the premium grocery store in the state of Florida to open up a store here in this location is just unbelievable. People that live here are looking forward to it. It gives this community an opportunity to get fresh food, an opportunity not only to get fresh food but also to know that people in this community care.”
READ: Riverwalk extension project discussion planned Thursday, renderings released
“It’s a miracle. It means that people living in this community have an opportunity not only to take advantage of a great grocery store, but also all the amenities are in this area. If you look around this area, if you’d been here 10, 15 years ago, it looked nothing like this,” Ryans added. “We had a lot of public housing units over here that were in pretty rough shape, in my opinion, and we made a decision a long time ago we were going to change the face of public housing. We have to do something different, and by doing something different, it made a difference to this community,” he said.
Dig deeper:
Local leaders say the West River BUILD Project, set to break ground Tuesday, will also make a difference in the area and bring new development. It will extend the Riverwalk on the west side and includes roadway improvements, and safety infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists.
“We’re always looking for ways to better connect the community, and for this project, that means making better pedestrian and cyclist connections and really stitching that community together,” Brandon Campbell, Interim Mobility Director for the City of Tampa, said. “It touches on a lot of investments we’ve already made.”
By the numbers:
The project’s price tag is almost $57 million. A federal grant will pay for $24 million of it, and local sources, like city tax dollars and bonds, will pick up the rest of the tab. City leaders say they hope to have the project done by 2027.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the Tampa Housing Authority, Publix and the City of Tampa.