JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Downtown Jacksonville has a grocery store again \u2014 and now City Hall is debating what it will take to bring an even bigger one.<\/p>\n
Over the past week, shoppers have been getting used to the new ALDI at Market and Union. <\/p>\n
At the same time, Jacksonville City Council members are preparing to take up an incentives proposal tied to Gateway Jax\u2019s planned N7 development at 119 W. Beaver St., a mixed-use tower that would set aside space for a Publix-sized grocery store downtown.<\/p>\n
Joan Grayson, who lives near the newly opened ALDI on Market and Union streets, told News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee<\/a> and photojournalist Jesse Hanson she is already changing her routine.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like two blocks from here, and I was going to have to go all the way out to 48; it is such a convenience,\u201d Grayson said. \u201cIt was almost a food desert out here for a good while.\u201d<\/p>\n Grayson said she\u2019s already been to ALDI twice in the same week and expects to shop there regularly.<\/p>\n For Diane Watson, the change is even more practical. Watson uses a wheelchair and said having a grocery store closer to home makes everyday errands easier.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of seniors don\u2019t have to travel so far,\u201d Watson said. \u201cIt\u2019s right up the street from where we stay; it makes a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n ALDI opened on June 17 after renovating the long-vacant space. The building at 777 N. Market St. was originally built as a Winn-Dixie, later operated as a Harvey\u2019s supermarket, and then sat dark for about a year after Harvey\u2019s closed in June 2025.<\/p>\n Now that one grocery option is back downtown, the focus is shifting to whether the city will help finance another \u2014 this time a Publix or another major grocer just a few blocks away. <\/p>\n City records show a demolition permit has already been issued for 119 W. Beaver St., the site where the project is planned.<\/p>\n RELATED | Parking plan, first residents, and retail timeline take shape at Pearl Square downtown<\/a><\/p>\n The legislation moving toward the City Council would authorize a redevelopment agreement between the city, the Downtown Investment Authority, and the developer, 119 Beaver St. W LLC. The project is part of Gateway Jax\u2019s downtown plans and calls for a 14-story tower with about 259 apartments and roughly 37,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.<\/p>\n The grocery component is built directly into the proposal. At least 30,000 square feet of that retail space would be set aside for a Publix grocery store or another \u201csimilarly well-known\u201d grocer approved by the Downtown Investment Authority.<\/p>\n To help make that happen, the deal includes two major incentives: a Recaptured Enhanced Value (REV) grant capped at $21.412 million, and a completion grant of up to $28.25 million.<\/p>\n