The Athens City Council unanimously passed a resolution and ordinance, Nov. 25, on an economic development project with Virginia-based Marathon Realty Corp., to bring a Food City supermarket to the westside of Athens.

“We’ve been working for close to a year on bringing a legitimate retail opportunity to the west side of Athens — where we’ve really needed something in terms of a supermarket,” Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks told The News Courier following the council’s meeting at city hall. “This is just a big win for us and all of our residents. We are really excited about it — and all of the opportunities that can come from it in terms of growing that part of town.”

According to a release from city officials, the introduction of the growing supermarket chain to Athens will meet a demand that has been expressed by several residents in that part of the city.

“This is going to be a great thing to bring to those residents on the westside,” Council President James Lucas said. “There have been a lot of developments on the eastside of Athens, and this could move some of that foot traffic to the westside. This project should help that area out, getting them something that they’ve wanted for a longtime, so I’m all for it.”

In the release, Marks said the eastern side of Athens — which has the most population and access to major thoroughfares such as U.S. 31 and I-65 — has seen the majority of new retail growth because of that.

“This project presented us with the opportunity to address a need in that part of our city and grow our sales tax base,” Marks stated in the release. “More than 40 percent of our city budget is from sales tax so growing our sales tax base is a priority. We have to grow it in order to hire more responders, buy more garbage trucks, do paving projects, improve outdoor recreation and other services.”

During the meeting, District 1 Councilman Chris Seibert read that the project will create approximately 200 new jobs and include an investment of $19.6 million. The project is also anticipated to generate $23 million in annual taxable sales.

The council also approved an incentive for Food City, in which Athens will collect annual sales tax generated by the store and reimburse it annually for 10 years or until $2.4 million is paid.

The location of the Food City will be at the intersection of Elm Street and Lucas Ferry Road. According to the release, the project will include street improvements in that area of the city.

“The westside has been clamoring for development, and I think this is a step in the right direction to show that we can support new businesses on the westside,” Councilwoman Dana Henry said. “As a lifelong resident of District 4, I think we can look forward to that sales tax revenue that will help us grow further in the future.”

According to the release, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., the corporate banner for the Food City supermarket chain, is an acronym for its original service area of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. The privately held, family-owned company has grown over the years by expansion, new store construction and acquisitions.

The Food City banner dates to 1918, with a store in Greeneville, Tennessee. Today, the company spans five states, operating 150 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama. A representative from Food City was present during the meeting on Monday, but did not choose to speak publicly.

For more information on Food City, please visit their website at https://www.foodcity.com/.