The East Chattanooga community considered a food desert -- an area where nutritious food is difficult to find -- may get a full grocery store, including meat and produce.
Chaudry S. Ali, owner of S&L Enterprises Inc., purchased the former Sunny Town property on the corner of Dodson Avenue and Glass Street this spring. Neighbors say they'd welcome a grocery store in that location.
"We have to go so far out to Highway 58, Brainerd Road or 153 (for groceries)," said Etta Kanipes, president of Glass Farm Neighborhood Association and long-time East Chattanooga resident. "We need something in this area."
The Bi-Lo on Highway 58 and the Bi-Lo on Brainerd Road are both more than 4 miles away from the Sunny Town address. When residents without cars can't get to the store, they eat fried food or prepackaged foods from gas stations or convenience stores, said Avondale Neighborhood Association President James Moreland.
Chattanooga City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem and Moreland have tried for decades to bring a grocery to the area. No investor stepped up until Ali.
Hakeem said the city should be eager to assist him, but so far it has not.
"We can find tax breaks for all kinds of developers. We can help tech companies when they come in here," Hakeem said. "But to this point the administration has not come up with a plan of assistance, so we are pushing very hard for some assistance because of the need in that community."
City officials say they have a responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. They authorized American Wholesale Grocers Inc. to study the feasibility of supermarkets in East Chattanooga. AWG concluded that although there were no supermarkets within the area in question, the operation of 12 grocery stores in the general area indicates an over-stored marketplace. Incentives might be available via the Growing Small Business Program, said Donna C. Williams, administrator of the city's Department of Economic & Community Development.
The old Sunny Town Grocery property on Dodson Avenue has been purchased by the owners of Rogers Market on Main Street."But given the results of the study and the results other communities have seen with large public subsidy, it is unlikely that incentives would be offered beyond what is available to every other small business in Chattanooga," Williams said.
Ali could not be reached for comment. His company, S&L Enterprises Inc., also owns Rogers Super Market on East Main Street.
Hakeem calls East Chattanooga the worst food desert in the state because of the lack of grocery stores in the community and the area's high rates of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Some 68 percent of adults in East Chattanooga were overweight in 2010 compared to 60 percent of adults overweight in Hamilton County. About 43 percent of adults in East Chattanooga have high blood pressure, compared to 25 percent with high blood pressure in the county, according to the Chattanooga Hamilton County Health Department.
Some 20 years ago, Bi-Lo operated a grocery at the Sunny Town site. There was also a Bi-Lo at Third Street and Dodson Avenue and a Pruett's Food Town on Third Street just a few blocks away from Bi-Lo. But now there is nothing, Moreland said.
The city ought to "jump and turn flips" that someone wants to make an investment in this community, Moreland said.
The city has met with Ali and is waiting on information about the scope of his project, Williams said.
Once the city receives the information it will determine if it will offer incentives for the project. This includes infrastructure improvements that will make the area more attractive for investment like sidewalks, street-scaping and transportation improvements, said Williams.
Ali purchased Sunny Town Supermarket April 2, 2015, for $105,000 from Artwil & Co., according to the Hamilton County Register of Deeds.
Fire marshalls condemned and closed Sunny Town in September 2014 because of electrical violations and fire hazards, according to news reports.
East Chattanooga resident Verlene Middlebrook described the former Sunny Town to be "sort of like a jungle." It was dimly lit, smelled bad and sections of the store were "roped off like a crime scene," she said.
Ali must redo the building, including the roof and electrical just to bring it up to standard, Hakeem said.
When complete it's will be a full-service quality grocery, he said.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6431.