At a public meeting to discuss the redevelopment of the Gay Street parking deck, citizens expressed their concerns about the future of the site, including the viability of a downtown grocery.
"My concern is not with the development," said Tim Curry, Auburn resident. "My concern is with the grocery store. You gave them your design and told them you wanted a grocery store. That could be part of the problem that you only had three respond."
Economic development officials sent a request for proposals in January 2015 to nine Alabama developers. Three proposals for the project were returned, and city officials then selected a proposal by the Birmingham-based developer Blackwater Resources.
Auburn Economic Development Department officials and executives from Blackwater presented the initial plans to the City Council on Jan. 5.
A 30,000-square-foot urban grocery and a national hotel with 90-130 rooms would anchor the redevelopment project in plans submitted by Blackwater Resources.
According to the term sheet approved by the City Council and Blackwater Resources on Jan. 5, approved groceries currently include Kroger, Publix, Whole Foods, Sprouts, The Fresh Market or Trader Joe’s.
"You can go to New Orleans, Seattle or Vancouver, Canada, and they do not have downtown grocery stores," Curry said. "They have small corner grocery stores and delicatessens, and they have a true urban, adult, 365-days-a-year population."
The planned 30,000-square-foot store would be less than half the size of the Kroger currently being renovated on Dean Road, which will be more than 75,000 square feet when completed.
"How many people do you think work downtown?" said Phillip Dunlap, director of economic development. "There are a lot of people downtown that will use this for convenience purposes."
Citizens also raised concern about what would replace the urban grocery if it were to close.
"The expectation would be if this grocery store ever were to go out of business, then another grocery store would take its place," said Auburn's city manager Charlie Duggan. "We have people investing upwards of $40 million, that manage over 25 million square feet of retail space. These people don't go into these risky ventures thinking they're going to go out of business in a year."
Office and conference space, as well as 3,700 square feet of additional retail and restaurant space, would accompany a larger, five-level parking garage touting 730 parking spaces.
The new parking garage would add more than 100 spaces to the total number of public parking spaces now available downtown.
The public-private partnership brokered by city officials would have the developer pay a $10 per month rent for the land on which the parking deck will sit. The land under the grocery and hotel would be deeded to the developer, along with several conditions.
The low rent was intended to incentivize the private developer into footing the bill for the multimillion dollar parking garage, according to Dunlap and Duggan. The developer, instead of the city, will finance the new parking garage, pay all maintenance fees and ensure the deck is inspected biannually — saving the city more than $10 million.
The City of Auburn will maintain ownership of the land under the parking garage. The building housing the hotel would be required to be used solely as a hotel for at least 10 years. The building housing the urban grocery must remain a grocery for at least 20 years.
According to the term agreement, the development cannot house residential units, and any changes to the terms would have to be approved by the City Council.
If at any point the property on which the hotel and grocery will sit were to be sold by the developer, the terms for required and permitted uses would be transferred along with the deed.
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