Mayor: Fry’s grocery store in downtown Phoenix will open in 2018
Apr 19, 2016, 12:57 PM | Updated: 2:45 pm
(Yelp Photo)
(Yelp Photo)
PHOENIX — The Fry’s Food Store being planned for downtown Phoenix will open in 2018, the city’s mayor said Tuesday.
“One of the truest indications of downtown’s livability is on its way,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said of the store during his State of the City address.
Fry’s announced earlier this month its intention to open in downtown. The 55,000-square-foot supermarket will be built on the parking lot just east of CityScape that is bordered by First, Second, Jefferson and Washington streets.
The store will be housed in a mixed-use development that would include office space and residences.
“This just made it a lot easier to move to downtown Phoenix,” Stanton said in a press release at the time. “A new full-service grocery store will be a catalyst for more residential and neighborhood growth downtown for years to come.”
The need for fresh food has been a common complaint by urbanites since the revitalization of downtown Phoenix, which really picked up speed when Arizona State Universty opened its first downtown campus dorm in 2008.
Other than the Open Air Market at Phoenix Public Market on Saturdays, walkable food options in the downtown area are elusive. Another option, a Safeway on Seventh Street and McDowell Road is more than a mile’s walk from ASU’s dormitory, Taylor Place.
“As a former downtown resident, I know first-hand how difficult it can be without convenient access to a full-service grocery store,” Vice Mayor Kate Gallego said in the same press release. “For residents who live and work downtown, especially those who rely on light rail and other public transportation, this store is exactly what we need.”
KTAR’s Ty Scholes contributed to this report.
