'Sycamore Grove' development planned for old Petersburg hospital site, anchored by grocery store

PETERSBURG — Plans have been announced for a new mixed-use development at the old Southside Regional Medical Center site that will finally bring a long-awaited grocery store to the "food desert" that is downtown.

At an impromptu news conference Tuesday afternoon following a Partnership for Petersburg event, Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham said "two major grocers" have emerged as the frontrunners to anchor Sycamore Grove, the combination of retail, office and residential units planned for 801 S. Adams St. Neither has been identified, but among the names that have been floated the most are Aldi, Publix and Lidl.

"At this point in time, they're in negotiations with the governor now," Parham said, standling alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin. "But everyone's gonna be excited with another big announcement coming on having a top-notch grocery store here in the city of Petersburg, which is well overdue."

"The mayor and I just sat down and said, 'Who do we want to get in?' Youngkin added. "And so, we called senior leadership at grocery stores across the country and around Virginia, and it's fun to see that we now have two."

A "food desert" is declared where low-income and/or minority residents do not have immediate access to fresh and nutritious food. Petersburg has been battling the issue for a number of years, and that is one of the reasons why the city has been ranked as the unhealthiest city in Virginia.

Ventures such as the River Street Market and pop-up locations around town have tried to cut into that food-desert situation. However, the lack of major grocery retailers always has been at the forefront of the fight.

As it stands now, Petersburg has only three major grocery stores within its city limits, and all are in the southern part of town — Food Lion, Walmart and Save-A-Lot. The last supermarket downtown, IGA Foodland, closed in 2020 and now is a Dollar General store.

Aldi and Publix both have stores in Colonial Heights, and there also are Aldi and Lidl stores in Chester.

Sycamore Grove also will be home to a Southern Kitchen restaurant, the governor said. Southern Kitchen already has a location in Richmond and specializes in "comfort foods" such as chicken, fish and shrimp.

The site has been unused since SRMC moved to Petersburg's Wagner Road area in 2003 and eventually became Bon Secours Southside Medical Center. The hospital building was torn down in 2009.

No dates were given for either the start of building Sycamore Grove or the announcement of the winning vendor for the grocery store.

One of several announcements Tuesday

Sycamore Grove was one of several major announcements made during the hour-long event that closed down West Washington Street between Sycamore and Union streets.

Twenty Petersburg businesses were named recipients of $25,000 grants from the $500,000 Petersburg Founder's Fund, a program set up by the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. The grants are designed to help small businesses based in Petersburg increase their product offerings and marketability.

According to a news release from the governor's office, a dozen of the 20 companies are woman-owned and half of them are Black-owned businesses. Fourteen of them are owned by people who live in Petersburg, and three are military veterans.

The awardees are:

• I'm A Genius Montessori Academy;

• Euterra;

• Readers 2 Leaders Academy;

• DebRay Entertainment (Escape Old Towne);

• Resist Booksellers;

• Appomattox Tile Art Co.;

• Shoe Crazy Wine;

• Mr. Q's BBQ;

• My Elegant Occasion (Appomattox Event Center);

• Old Towne's Alibi;

• Trapezium Brewing;

• Another Level Barbering and Cosmetology School;

• Strawberry Hill Mansion;

• Tri-Cities Enrichment Center;

• LNN USA;

• Community Counseling Group;

• A3 Fabricators;

• Petersburg Company;

• D.A. Walwer Inc. (Virginia Auto Glass); and

• See Her Evolve, LLC.

The grants can be used for staff hiring and development, market research, system upgrades, prototype development, debt repayment, inventory replenishment, website developmentThe PFF grants of $25,000 apiece are supporting a variety of activities including, but not limited to: hiring or promoting employees, conducting market research, finance and accounting system upgrades, development of prototypes, staff development, debt repayment, inventory replenishment, website development, and leasing improvements. They cannot be used for property management or real-estate investment.

During the ceremony, the governor also announced that the Petersburg Family YMCA will join forces with nonprofit playground developer KaBoom! to build a new playpark in the city. According to its website, KaBoom! specializes in developing playspaces in underserved and low-income commuities.

The ceremony culminated with a ribbon-cutting for the new Virginia Community Resource Center that has set up in the former Heilig-Meyers furniture store on West Washington Street. The VCRC is designed to be a one-stop location for residents, especially veterans, to get help with various life needs.

The afternoon ceremony drew many Petersburg councilors, Youngkin administration cabinet secretaries, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears and other state lawmakers.

Earlier in the afternoon, the governor and First Lady Suzanne Youngkin took part in the grand opening of Urban Baby Beginnings, a maternal health hub on Wakefield Avenue near Walnut Hill Elementary School. That also was one of the pillars addressed by the Partnership for Petersburg initiative.

More: Nonprofit launches a maternity support center as part of the governor's 'Partnership for Petersburg'

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Governor, Petersburg announce plans for major grocery store downtown