CITY TO BUY OLD RULER GROCERY

GROCERY COMING DOWNTOWN

Madison’s Redevelopment Commission  approved a resolution that will secure a piece of property that the Commission and Mayor Bob Courtney think will not only be key to bringing a grocery store back to downtown Madison but also serve for revitalizing an entire area of the city.

Madison has been in negotiations with K-Q LLC for several months to secure ownership of the former Rulers Foods supermarket and parking lot, 120 East Second Street, as a site for a new independent grocery.

Courtesy City of Madison

The project would include a downtown grocery on one corner and include parking and a city park beside the massive Kindness Matters mural that will be painted this summer and serve as a gathering place for local residents and destination for tourists.

The City’s Redevelopment Commission dipped into the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds that it oversees and contributed $200,000 as a down payment on the former grocery site. The city’s most recent negotiations to buy the 12,000 square foot building and even larger parking lot, involved getting two independent appraisals and averaging them to see how much the city could legally spend for the property.

The appraisals averaged out to $541,000,a sales price of $525,000.Courtney said the city has been involved in negotiations with up to three potential independent grocery tenants for the space but nothing is yet definitive.

“The City of Madison Redevelopment Commission continues to support our strategy of acquiring strategic assets across the city that will promote blight elimination, gateway improvements, tourism, revitalization and economic development efforts. All of these investments will attract private capital that will further enhance the city.”