ATHENS, Ala. – Mayor Ronnie Marks has been seeing some negativity on social media recently with the talks of a new Publix grocery store coming to the East side of town. The idea is the new Publix will replace the building where K-Mart used to be off Highway 31 in Athens.
“First of all, let me do some clarification. For some reason people on social media think I have a magic wand and can put anything I want in there. This is a building owned by a private individual who has been working with a corporate office of Publix for two years,” said Mayor Marks.
The building has been vacant since 2017, and is expected to only go downhill if it continues to go unused.
Mayor Marks said, “There’s a few people that have been reported out behind it in the bushes, but it’s nothing to be alarmed about. But you know the longer an abandoned building sits there the more opportunities you miss out on.”
The City Council voted to approve the development tonight. The new development will bring more than just the grocery store. According to Mayor Marks, the property owner is asking to also put in an additional street from their property to Pryor Street. They also are asking to put in a stop light on Hwy 31 in front of the new Athens Middle School to help with the traffic that is expected to occur.
“It’s about 48,000 square feet and will have 11,000 additional square feet for shopping space beside it,” Mayor Marks said, “And then it’ll have a one-acre parcel of land for more retail space or a possible restaurant.”
The reason people are getting upset about the new development is because of the current local grocery stores nearby. They’re afraid it will run the local stores out of business.
“I hope it doesn’t have a negative impact on some of our local grocery stores. I think with our growth being almost twenty percent each year, I don’t think that’ll happen. It’s going to be really valuable for this side of town.”