It’s been on many locals’ short list of needed downtown amenities for years, the sort of “next step” development that can serve as a catalyst for future growth, and now 2015 is poised to be the year Spartanburg gets its downtown grocery store.
Hub City Co-op announced at Monday’s Spartanburg City Council meeting that it has raised the $350,000 in private donations needed to qualify for matching funds approved by City Council last year.
With funding secured, the group plans to open the doors on South Carolina’s first cooperatively owned grocery store at 176 N Liberty St. in Downtown Spartanburg later this year after a full renovation of the long-vacant building. Under terms of the agreement, the City will provide a $200,000 zero-interest loan to the co-op, repayable over seven years, and a $150,000 grant to be paid monthly over four years.
The 5,000 square foot grocery store will focus on offering a wide selection of local, sustainably produced food items, and will include a café. Along with providing a new market for local farmers and other food producers, once up and running, Hub City Co-op is expected to bring around 30 new jobs to downtown.
In addition to the more than 1,200 people who’ve bought in as owners, Hub City Co-op will also serve as a neighborhood grocery store for downtown residents, whose ranks continue to swell with developments like the recently renovated Church Street Lofts and the nearly completed mixed-use development on Broad Street adding new options for downtown living in Spartanburg.
Joining its neighbors, Chapman Cultural Center and George Dean Johnson Jr. School of Business and Economics, Hub City Co-op will provide a new destination amenity for the area, and will be located one block from the future northern end of the Mary Black Rail Trail, with plans calling to extend the popular pedestrian and bicycle trail through downtown to Barnet Park, providing better connectivity between the Main Street and St John Street corridors.
To learn more about Hub City Co-op, follow this link to visit their website.