TUESDAY, JANUARY 13th at 6 pm in Liberty’s Kitchen at 300 North Broad in New Orleans.
Thank You Jeff Schwartz
How One Determined Urban Planner Built a Job-Generating Lefty Foodie Xanadu in New Orleans
Conversations abound, some of them perhaps in dark bars, about what to do with abandoned buildings in urban cores. It’s less common when someone like New Orleans native Jeff Schwartz takes a pipe dream — transforming a vacant, 60,000-square-foot grocery store in the Mid-City neighborhood into a food hub — and makes it a reality.
Schwartz, 32, is executive director of Broad Community Connections (BCC), a non-profit working to revitalize a neighborhood marred by decades of disinvestment. On Tuesday, Whole Foods, the anchor of BCC’s ReFresh Project, finally opened its doors to customers.
ReFresh, which occupies a part of New Orleans where the median household income is $27,826 and 22.6 percent of residents are on SNAP, has many goals, from providing better food access to education. For this latest project, Whole Foods, Liberty’s Kitchen (a non-profit program offering culinary training to youth and meals to local public schools) and Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine will occupy a former Schweggman’s grocery store, which has sat vacant since Hurricane Katrina.
Whole Foods was the linchpin and name brand that tied the whole project together. But it almost didn’t happen. The Austin grocer balked at first. So Schwartz, an affable graduate of the city’s beloved magnet public high school, spent the majority of 2011 courting a dozen grocers. Then, in late December 2011, he scored an interview with the company’s co-CEO Walter Robb.
“I got dressed up in a suit for the first time at BCC. They all walked in wearing jeans and fleeces,” Schwartz told me. “I was like, ‘Okay, they’re more approachable than I thought they would be.” Schwartz and BCC expressed their vision for not only a grocer in an underserved area — something Whole Foods has been bullish on — but a broader food education effort. They wanted to make it a food hub for the entire neighborhood. It was an easy sell.
“That day, Walter [Robb] was like, ‘We’re doing it,’” said Schwartz, an urban planner who returned to his hometown to help with post-Katrina recovery after completing his degree at MIT in 2008.
The Broad Street Whole Foods will be the chain’s second store in the city. The first opened in 2002 in the city’s posh uptown shopping district, not far from Tulane University.
Broad Community Connections used various financing methods to make ReFresh a reality. Like the recently reopened Circle Foods in the Seventh Ward, the group received a $1 million loan from the city’s Fresh Food Retailer Initiative, half of which is forgivable. Another $900,000 comes from the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority’s Corridor Revitalization Program. Various streams of private investment (including Goldman Sachs and Chase) and, like many businesses in low-income areas, New Market Tax Credits (NMTCs) made the deal possible.
It’s the latter where Whole Foods’ savvy helped BCC make the ReFresh Project work.
“Really, the biggest subsidy in the project was NMTC,” Schwartz said. (Goldman Sachs provided a $10 million NMTC allocation and Chase another $8 million.) “And Whole Foods, rather than keeping their money in their own sort of pot, they actually put their development dollars in with all of ours. That increased the amount of NMTC that we were able to get by over $1 million.”
Liberty’s Kitchen and the Goldring Center are set to open in the next two or three months. Liberty is already making 12 bulk food products daily for Whole Foods — part of the grocer’s focus on local products — which will drastically help increase revenues.
“Jeff has really built Broad Community Connections from the ground up,” said David Emond, Liberty’s executive director. “He’s been a real visionary and has been committed to this project from day one, when most people thought it would never really have a chance at all.”
Schwartz said he’s nut sure how heavily BCC might involve itself in future projects in the corridor — its hands are full with ReFresh — but hopes it will jumpstart other investments. “It’s going to have a significant impact in bringing people to Broad Street,” said Marla Nelson, associate professor and program coordinator of the Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of New Orleans. That was Schwartz’s idea from the beginning
“We’ve always envisioned this project as being an anchor for small business development,” Schwartz said. “And we’d like to see some residential, preferably affordably or at least mixed-income development, in the rest of the corridor.”
Excitement Builds Over Refresh Project
As a part of Whole Foods Market’s commitment to the community and in celebration of the store’s opening, the Arabella Station, Veterans and Broad St. stores will host a series of 1% community giving days during the Broad St. location’s opening week. Guests can support getting more trees along Bayou St. John this Friday, February 7, 2014 by shopping at one of the New Orleans Whole Foods Market stores:
Friday, Feb. 7 – Restore the Bayou Canopy
Replacing southern live oak trees along Bayou St. John lost during hurricanes Katrina and Isaac. These trees have provided shade and improved the quality of life for neighborhood residents for centuries.
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The extensive store renovation includes a physical on-site presence for several key organizations that include Firstline Schools, Liberty’s Kitchen, The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University and Broad Street Community Connections. Each tenant partner serves a unique function that helps to advance its individual mission, yet each entity shares a universal vision — that of perpetuating a healthy lifestyle through education, accessibility and affordability.
“The Broad Street neighborhood is coming back, and Whole Foods is thrilled to play a part of that revitalization. Along with our partners, we hope to affect healthy lifestyle changes through education and through our community outreach programs,” Whole Foods Community Relations representative Kristina Bradford said.
Some of the programs you’ll discover at Broad Street are regular healthy eating classes offered both at the store and remotely at various locations throughout the community. According to Bradford, there will also be support from the store to help consumers make healthy food choices while watching their budget.
During a recent guided tour of the 25,000-square-foot facility, there was attention to detail that seemed to reflect the Mid-City neighborhood and the people who live there. The store definitely communicates an old New Orleans-style grocery store vibe but with the type of merchandise its customers are accustomed to seeing on shelves.
What is different at Broad Street is an expanded local vendor relationship. For example, there’s locally roasted French Truck Coffee Chicory Blend on store shelves alongside the usual line of java. You’ll also discover freshly baked goods by a variety of local vendors that includes Breads on Oak, Gracious Bakery, Laurel Street Bakery and the traditional Leidenheimer French breads.
There’s even a gumbo bar that merges fresh, local ingredients with the talents and resources of Liberty’s Kitchen.
On a swing around the old Schwegmann’s Supermarket parking lot where the preview party was held, I chatted with several of the community partners that have been intimately involved with the project from its inception. Jeff Schwartz, executive director for Broad Community Connections, was one of the key visionaries that helped to obtain a Main Street designation for ReFresh.
“This is beyond our wildest dreams,” Schwartz said. “Everyone deserves a healthy quality of life. It’s both our right and our responsibility to the residents of this neighborhood.
“It’s these old New Orleans neighborhoods that are the backbone of our culture.”
Virtually every key partner with whom I spoke at the preview party echoed that same mantra.
“This project provides the opportunity for profound social impact,” said Liberty’s Kitchen Program Director Dennis Bagneris. “We want to see this project replicated in other areas.”
Whole Foods Broad Street and all of its nonprofit community partners are demonstrating a steadfast commitment to improving the quality of life for all residents. This revitalization effort should serve as a prototype for what neighborhoods throughout the country can aspire to.
For an overview of the ReFresh project, visit www.broadcommunityconnections.org.
For details and more information on Whole Foods Broad Street, contact Kristina Bradford at [email protected]
Click on the coupon to print it.
Click on the coupon to print it.
Mid-City New Orleans welcomes a new Whole Foods Market(r) store
Broad Street store anchors the ReFresh project with Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, Liberty’s Kitchen, Broad Community Connections, and FirstLine Schools
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Whole Foods Market Broad St. store will open at the corner of Broad and Bienville streets after an 8:15 a.m. bread breaking ceremony featuring a garden grant and new foundation announcements. The 25,000-square-foot store will open its doors offering a full range of high-quality natural and organic foods including a vast assortment of more than 330 locally-sourced offerings from some of Louisiana’s most highly-regarded community producers, more than 100 organic produce items, and hundreds of products exclusive to Whole Foods Market.
The first 500 shoppers at the store will receive the new line of New Orleans reusable bags with Whole Foods Market product samples. Shoppers can also enjoy special store opening sales and music, as well as tips and tours with the Whole Foods Market healthy eating educators.
As a part of Whole Foods Market’s commitment to the community and in celebration of the store’s opening, the Arabella Station, Veterans and Broad St. stores will host a series of 1% community giving days during the Broad St. location’s opening week. Guests can support a different local non-profit each day simply by shopping at one of the New Orleans Whole Foods Market stores:
Tuesday, Feb. 4 – Providence Community Housing<http://www.providencecommunityhousing.org/>
Fosters healthy, diverse and vibrant communities by developing, operating and advocating for affordable, mixed-income housing, supportive services and employment opportunities for individuals, families, seniors and people with special needs.
Wednesday, Feb. 5 – Edgar “Dooky” Jr. & Leah Chase Family Foundation<http://www.dookychasefoundation.org/>
Seeks to cultivate and support historically disenfranchised organizations by making significant contributions to education, creative and culinary arts, and social justice.
Thursday, Feb. 6 – Youth Run NOLA<http://www.yrnola.org/>
Empowers underserved youth through running, with an eight-month guided training program that emphasizes the long-term significance of empowerment, physical activity and mental resiliency in youth.
Friday, Feb. 7 – Restore the Bayou Canopy<http://www.mothershipfoundation.wordpress.com/>
Replacing southern live oak trees along Bayou St. John lost during hurricanes Katrina and Isaac. These trees have provided shade and improved the quality of life for neighborhood residents for centuries.
Saturday, Feb. 8 – The Roots of Music<http://www.therootsofmusic.org/>
Provides free, year-round music education to kids ages 9-14, with a mission to teach, support and empower the youth of New Orleans while preserving and promoting the city’s unique musical and cultural heritage.
In keeping with Whole Foods Market tradition, the Broad St. store is customized for the surrounding community and features local cultural flair and repurposed materials, and these special attributes:
* Healthy eating classes and events onsite and in the community
* Repurposed pallet wood used on columns and throughout the store
* Salvaged “Peace” building graffiti panels installed in store
* Electric vehicle charging stations and bike fix-it station
* Two healthy eating educators on-site to answer questions, craft recipes, and host tours
* NOLA-specific reusable better bag
* Local French Truck Coffee at the coffee bar
* More than 330 local products including more than 115 items in the bakery, 82 items in the Whole Body department, and 80 products in the grocery aisles
* Original terrazzo floor featured throughout the store
* Original grocery store letters from a previous tenant used in the “NOLA pride” accent above the entrance
* Art-o-mat to feature “art to go” with local art available
Once the building construction is complete, the community will be able to experience the full potential of the ReFresh project with tenant partners Liberty’s Kitchen, Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, Broad Community Connections, and FirstLine Schools, in addition to other collaborators around healthy eating and food access initiatives, including budget-friendly meal planning, store tours, health screenings and more.
For more information about the Whole Foods Market Broad St. store, visit: wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/broadstreet
Whole Foods Market Broad St.
300 N. Broad St., Suite 103
New Orleans, LA 70119
Store Hours: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. daily
Phone: (504) 434-3364
Find us online:
Louisiana Suppliers: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Facebook: Whole Foods Market New Orleans
Twitter: wfm_louisiana
Instagram – wholefoods_louisiana
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About Whole Foods Market(r)
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com<http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com>, NASDAQ: WFM), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company’s motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”(tm) captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company’s more than 78,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 15 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2013, the company had sales of $12.9 billion and currently has more than 360 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
For store updates, community and event news, and new product information, follow us on Twitter @wfm_louisiana<http://twitter.com/WFM_Louisiana>, Facebook www.facebook.com/wholefoodsnola<http://www.facebook.com/wholefoodsnola> and www.facebook.com/wholefoodsbr<http://www.facebook.com/wholefoodsbr>, and Instagram @wholefoods_louisiana.
THE GRAND OPENING OF WHOLE FOODS MARKET BROAD STREET!
Join us on Tuesday, February 4 for the Bread-Breaking & Grand Opening at Whole Foods Market Broad Street starting at 8:15am!Be among the first 500 guests and receive a free NOLA Better Bag!Enjoy free coffee and pastries while you wait for doors to open at 9:00am, then music, special deals and more fun all day long!
Whole Foods Market Broad Street
300 North Broad Street, Suite 103
New Orleans, Louisiana 70119
P: 504.434.3364
Whole Foods Market Broad Street
300 North Broad Street, Suite 103
New Orleans, Louisiana 70119
P: 504.434.3364
The ReFresh Project is an adaptive reuse of the former Schwegmann’s supermarket building at Broad and Bienville.
The project that will include a new Whole Foods Market, Liberty’s Kitchen full service café and commercial kitchen, and The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University. The fresh food access development has the dual purpose of anchoring economic development in the Broad Street commercial corridor and delivering much-needed, high-quality fresh foods and health-related programs to underserved communities along Broad Street. The development will also include office and community space, including the central office for FirstLine Schools and the offices of Broad Community Connections.
Heard about the new ReFresh Project on Broad Street but curious about why it’s so fresh?
Did you know that the ReFresh Project is more than a new Whole Foods Market?
The Whole Foods Market Broad St. store will open Tuesday, Feb. 4
with coffee and refreshments at 7:45 a.m., opening ceremonies at 8:15 a.m. and doors opening at 9 a.m. The community will have the opportunity to attend a Preview Party Saturday, Feb. 1 from 12 to 3 p.m. with a sneak peek of the 25,000-square-foot store, ReFresh partners, samples from local and national suppliers, Whole Foods Market healthy eating educators, and more. The events are free and open to the community.
The Whole Foods Market Broad St. store anchors the ReFresh Project, a 60,000-square-foot development that aims to stimulate growth in New Orleans’ Broad Street commercial corridor and to improve access to fresh, high-quality food and health-related programs in the community. More details, tenant profiles, and video are available in the online press kit at www.bit.ly/wholefoodsbroadst.
Whole Foods Market(r) Broad Street to Donate Percentage
of First Five Days’ Sales to Local New Orleans Non-Profits
Arabella Station and Veterans stores to participate
For an opening week celebration that begins Feb. 4, the Whole Foods Market Broad St. store will donate one percent of the first five day’s net sales to non-profits whose missions serve children, seniors, personal and workforce development, empowerment, arts, social justice, beautification/environment, music, and culture. The Arabella Station and Veterans locations will also participate and donate their net sales.
As part of the company’s core values to support its local communities, the stores donate five percent of net sales once a quarter. With the new Broad St. store opening, the New Orleans locations have combined efforts to support five local organizations over the first five days that the Broad St. store is open to foster even more giving. The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, Feb. 4
Providence Community Housing
Providence Community Housing fosters healthy, diverse and vibrant communities by developing, operating and advocating for affordable, mixed-income housing, supportive services and employment opportunities for individuals, families, seniors and people with special needs. www.
Wednesday, Feb. 5
Edgar “Dooky” Jr. & Leah Chase Family Foundation
The Dooky and Leah Chase Family Foundation seeks to cultivate and support historically disenfranchised organizations by making significant contributions to education, creative and culinary arts, and social justice. www.dookychasefoundation.org
Thursday, Feb. 6
Youth Run NOLA
Youth Run NOLA empowers underserved youth through running, with an eight-month guided training program overseen by volunteer teacher-coaches and running buddies. They recognize the long-term significance of empowerment, physical activity and mental resiliency in youth and aim to teach the community that runners are made, not born, and that running is a lifestyle, not just a sport. www.yrnola.org
Friday, Feb. 7
Restore the Bayou Canopy
MotherShip Foundation’s Restore the Bayou Canopy campaign is a project that is replacing southern live oak trees along Bayou St. John lost during hurricanes Katrina and Isaac. These trees have provided shade and improved the quality of life for neighborhood residents for centuries.
www.mothershipfoundation.
The Roots of Music
Co-founded by Derrick Tabb of the Rebirth Brass Band, The Roots of Music provides free, year-round music education to kids ages 9-14, with a mission to teach, support and empower the youth of New Orleans while preserving and promoting the city’s unique musical and cultural heritage. www.therootsofmusic.org“Leading up to the store opening, we’ve had the pleasure to meet people and organizations in the neighborhood and surrounding area and support many events,” shared Kristina Bradford, Louisiana community and media relations coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “These one percent days are a great way to celebrate the store opening and organizations that enrich our community. We’re thrilled that the Arabella and Veterans locations will join us in these efforts, and we invite the community to shop at our stores on these days to further the non-profits’ missions.”Information on Broad St. store events, activities, and classes, including the healthy eating educators, can be found at
The Roots of Music
Co-founded by Derrick Tabb of the Rebirth Brass Band, The Roots of Music provides free, year-round music education to kids ages 9-14, with a mission to teach, support and empower the youth of New Orleans while preserving and promoting the city’s unique musical and cultural heritage. www.therootsofmusic.org“Leading up to the store opening, we’ve had the pleasure to meet people and organizations in the neighborhood and surrounding area and support many events,” shared Kristina Bradford, Louisiana community and media relations coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “These one percent days are a great way to celebrate the store opening and organizations that enrich our community. We’re thrilled that the Arabella and Veterans locations will join us in these efforts, and we invite the community to shop at our stores on these days to further the non-profits’ missions.”Information on Broad St. store events, activities, and classes, including the healthy eating educators, can be found at
www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com http://
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com http://
For store updates, community and event news, and new product information, follow us on Twitter @wfm_louisiana,
Facebook www.facebook.com/wholefoodsnola and www.facebook.com/wholefoodsbr,
and Instagram @wholefoods_louisiana.
The ReFresh Project is an adaptive reuse of the former Schwegmann’s supermarket building at Broad and Bienville.
The project that will include a new Whole Foods Market, Liberty’s Kitchen full service café and commercial kitchen, and The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University. The fresh food access development has the dual purpose of anchoring economic development in the Broad Street commercial corridor and delivering much-needed, high-quality fresh foods and health-related programs to underserved communities along Broad Street. The development will also include office and community space, including the central office for FirstLine Schools and the offices of Broad Community Connections.
Whole Foods on Broad Sponsors Healthy Eating Series
Due to unexpected circumstances, Dr. Akua Woolbright is unavailable for the January healthy eating series at Treme Center hosted by the Whole Foods Market Broad St. store. Other Whole Foods Market healthy eating educators will continue the series with fundamental information on the following topics:
Tuesday, January 14, 6 to 7 p.m.
Four Pillars to Healthy Eating and Decoding Food Labels
Participants will learn the four fundamentals of healthier eating, how to read food labels, and how to make wiser food choices.
Tuesday, January 21, 6 to 7 p.m.
Combating Food Cravings
Attendees will learn how to eat and lose weight at the same time.
Tuesday, January 28, 6 to 7 p.m.
Making a Plan that Sticks
The interactive class helps participants identify potential obstacles and solutions to reach their goals.
Location: Treme Community Center, 900. N Villere St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Dates: Tuesday, Jan. 14, 21 and 28
Time: 6 to 7 p.m.
Cost: Free
Reservations: [email protected]
At 300 N. Broad St., the Whole Foods Market Broad St. store will host a Community Preview Party Saturday, Feb. 1 from 12 to 3 p.m. and Opening Day Ceremonies Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 8 a.m. The events are free and open to the public.
Health Eating Series will be at 900 North Villere. Link to map below…
https://www.google.com/#q=900+North+Villere+Street%2C+New+Orleans%2C+LA
Connect with the Broad Street store
About the Store
Learn more about Whole Foods Market Broad Street and the ReFresh Project by visitng our online newsroom.
Whole Foods on Broad to Open February 4th
The last announcement from Whole Foods back in October indicated that the store at Broad and Bienville will open on February 4, 2014. Many thanks to Robert Thompson for sending in the article below about the first grocery store to open at that location on March 22, 1965. Please be patient, it may take a few seconds for the PDF to appear after you click on the article below.
Lisa Amoss adds… Whole Foods on Broad will be part of the ReFresh collaborative, including other tenants Liberty’s Kitchen, the Tulane Medical School Goldring Culinary Medicine Center, and First Line Schools with their Edible Schoolyard program, as well as over 20 off-site partners. There will also be a small urban farm on site. As a collaborative, a series of training programs will run on how to shop for nutritious food cost effectively, how to grow nutritious food, and how to cook healthy food that people will like and eat. It’s an exciting project starting with the Whole Foods opening Feb. 4th. BTW if you haven’t tried it, try shopping the Whole Foods “365” line that is expanding all the time. You’ll find it’s the most cost effective, as well as healthy, shopping in town.
Get a Job at Whole Foods
Whole Foods Market on Broad slated to open Monday, Dec. 16
Broad St. Store Job Application Assistance Friday, Oct. 11
NEW ORLEANS, La. (Sept. 25, 2013) – Jobs at the Whole Foods Market Broad St. store are now listed at http://wholefoodsmarket.com/careers with a Tuesday, Oct. 22 application deadline. The store will hire 80 to 100 team members.
All applications must be submitted through the Whole Foods Market website. Broad St. store team leaders will be on-site to assist candidates with entering their information on the computer Friday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center, located at 2200 Lafitte St. Applicants should have the following information with them:
* Valid phone numbers
* Resume and cover letter, if available, to be scanned and loaded with application
* Personal Address
* Top departments/areas of interest
* Last five years of employment (dates of employment, company name, job title, ending pay/frequency of pay, duties, type of business, city/state of business, method/reason for leaving)
* Education (name of school, level of education, city/state of school, degree/area of study, date achieved)
* Licenses (any applicable licenses)
* Language skills
* Geographic mobility
* Top three skills
* Date available to begin employment
* Scheduling availability
* Required pay
“As the Broad St. Store Team Leader, I’m committed to making sure our store serves as a strong local community partner. We’re excited about not only being able to provide fresh, high-quality food to the area, but to also offer career opportunities to the people living in this community and the surrounding areas,” said Ernest Roy.
In addition, Whole Foods Market Louisiana Forager Kelly Landrieu continues to seek local products to place in the stores. She will hold a local vendor pitch day at the Veterans store, located at 3420 Veterans Blvd., Friday, Oct. 4 from 1 to 7 p.m. by appointment only. Local businesses should send product and contact information to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>.
The Broad St. store is scheduled to open Monday, Dec. 16.
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About Whole Foods Market(r)
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com<http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com>, NASDAQ: WFM), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company’s motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”(tm) captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company’s more than 73,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 15 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2012, the company had sales of $11.7 billion and currently has more than 340 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
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Whole Foods Seeks Local Vendors
Hi All,
I am the new local forager for all of the Louisiana Whole Foods. That means I am responsible for finding local producers to work with to bring into our stores. With the new Broad Street store opening in December, I really would like to focus on local suppliers from Mid-City. This Friday I am hosting two info sessions at the Veterans store. Please see the blurb below and email me with any questions. I look forward to talking local with y’all.
Best,
Kelly Landrieu
[email protected]
Are you a local artisan, food purveyor or farmer? Are you looking for more information on how to get your product onto the shelves at Whole Foods Market? Join us on July 26th at 10:00 am or 2:00 pm at the Veterans store to talk with local Whole Foods team members on standards, labeling, procedures and everything in between. Space is limited, so RSVP to [email protected]
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NEW ORLEANS, LA– Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the Hope Enterprise Corporation and The Food Trust announced major funding from the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI) for a redevelopment project at Broad and Bienville streets focused on community health and economic development that will be anchored by a 25,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market. The project is being developed by Broad Community Connections, a non-profit organization working to revitalize Broad Street from Tulane Avenue to Bayou Road, and L+M Development Partners, a developer of affordable, mixed-income, and market-rate housing. The 60,000-square-foot property at Broad and Bienville is the former site of a Schwegmann’s supermarket and Robert’s Fresh Market. Whole Foods Market confirmed yesterday that it plans to open a store there that will be one component of a larger project and to hire approximately 80 to 100 people. The City is actively supporting the developers as they work to close on financing and bring the project to fruition.
FFRI is offering a loan of $1 million to Broad Community Connections, of which, up to $500,000 will be forgivable.
“Awarding this FFRI loan is an important step toward promoting a better quality of life for residents in this Mid City neighborhood and fostering healthier lifestyle habits for all of our citizens,” said Mayor Landrieu. “Projects like this create jobs, generate taxes, bring vacant properties back into commerce and reinvigorate neighborhoods. We look forward to more fresh food store openings in neighborhoods throughout our city.”
In addition to the FFRI loan, the Board of Commissioners of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) approved an award of $900,000 to Broad Community Connections for the redevelopment of the property through its Commercial Corridor Revitalization program.
The FFRI, launched in March 2011, plans to award $14 million worth of low-cost, flexible financing to enable vendors to open, renovate or expand retail outlets that sell fresh fruits and vegetables in lower-income areas of the city where access to fresh foods has been lacking. The City previously announced FFRI awards to the iconic Circle Food Market in the Seventh Ward and DaFresh Seafood Market in Central City.
To fund the FFRI, the City is providing $7,000,000 in Disaster-Community Development Block Grant funds, matched exactly by the City’s partner, Hope Enterprise Corporation (HOPE). In addition, the City is partnering on the initiative with The Food Trust, a national non-profit organization with a track record for administering innovative approaches to expanding access to fresh foods in Pennsylvania and New York.
“HOPE is excited about this latest success in our efforts to foster healthy lifestyles and economic development in communities like those along the Broad corridor,” said HOPE CEO Bill Bynum.
The Food Trust executive director Yael Lehmann said, “We look forward to continuing our work with the New Orleans community to revitalize the health of its residents and the health of its neighborhoods.”
Aimee Quirk, advisor to the Mayor for economic development, who oversees the Fresh Food Retailer Initiative for the City, said, “Our administration is committed to promoting and providing access to quality food and retail in every neighborhood in our city. FFRI supports the physical health of our citizens and the economic health of our neighborhoods. We are pleased that this FFRI loan is available to help bring fresh food, new jobs and private investment into this community.”
“Access to fresh foods and produce is vital to improving the health of our residents. The FFRI program is improving the quality of life for our residents and will make New Orleans a healthier city,” said City Health Commissioner Dr. Karen DeSalvo.
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About the Fresh Food Retailer Initiative
Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced the launch of the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI) in March 2011 in an effort to expand access to healthy food at affordable prices, provide quality employment opportunities for New Orleans citizens and serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. New or existing stores funded through the FFRI program must demonstrate a commitment to the sale of fresh produce by dedicating significant shelf space to fruits and vegetables.
To fund FFRI, the City is providing $7,000,000 in Disaster-Community Development Block Grant (D-CDBG) funds, which will be matched 1:1 by the City’s partner, Hope Enterprise Corporation (HOPE), for a total of $14,000,000. In addition, the City has partnered with The Food Trust, a national non-profit organization with a track record for administering innovative approaches to expanding access to fresh foods in Pennsylvania and New York.
Applicants must plan to either open a self-service supermarket or other grocery retail outlet primarily selling fresh produce, seafood, meat, dairy and other groceries; renovate and substantially improve a store’s ability to stock and sell a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables; or develop a real estate project that will lease space to a grocery retail tenant.