FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Florence City Council is moving forward with plans to bring a grocery store to Downtown Florence.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control considers the area near Downtown Florence a food desert since there are no grocery stores nearby. The City of Florence is assisting with the project through its Tax Incentives Finance (TIF) district.
In January, council agreed to add an additional $432,000 and $70,000 to be used to cover the gap in construction costs for the grocery store building.
“I started this project in 2016. Between 2016 and 2018 the price of construction went up,” said Tim Waters, owner of Sav-A-Lot. “Progress made the price go up. So, they had to come in and really assess that and make sure that we had enough funding to fill up the construction part of the project.”
Councilwoman Teresa Myers- Ervin says the project will not impact taxpayers. Last year, the city approved a $300,000 incentives package for Sav- A- Lot grocery to come to the area.
“The City of Florence has been, they have been tremendous. The TIF district really works. It’s not based on color. It’s based on your project. If you have an idea, they are really going to sit down and try to make it happen,” said Waters.
Waters is a Florence native and has been working for the past two decades to bring a grocery store to the area. He says he was rejected by 28 banks and is grateful for support from the city and local businesses.
Waters says he is the first African American owner of a major chain grocery store in the city.
“I still live in the community where I grew up in, where I started this. Other minorities, business owners and people of color are looking at me now saying, ‘Hey, if you can do it, I can too,’” said Waters.
The Sav- A- Lot land is set to go before the city for a public hearing Wednesday at 2 p.m. The public hearing will help determine the need for the grocery store on the corner of Dargan and Darlington Street.
