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WHEELING -- For only $100 per month, Grow Ohio Valley can sell craft beer, tofu, seaweed and other products from the Main Street ground floor of the Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center.
After the City Council meeting Tuesday, Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said "market rate" for leasing the 2,500-square-foot vacant area would be about $1,000 per month.
Grow Ohio Valley officials also want taxpayers to spend nearly $27,000 for electrical and plumbing upgrades for the vacant area before August. City leaders did not agree to this Tuesday.
"We leased it to them below market rate," said Thalman. "We want to support their cause. It would be a great benefit to the citizens who live downtown."
"Downtown Wheeling is a food desert," said Mayor Glenn Elliott. "We would love to see a for-profit grocery store open downtown. For whatever reason, the private sector hasn't made that jump."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as an area without "fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas."
Last year, Elliott and Thalman joined fellow City Council members in a 7-0 vote to allow City Manager Robert Herron to negotiate a lease for the space, which has remained vacant since the Greyhound bus company left several years ago.
During the city's finance committee meeting, which took place just prior to the regular council meeting, Grow Ohio Valley co-founders Ken Peralta and Danny Swan addressed members of council.
Peralta said the lease had been finalized, but did not specify a price. Thalman confirmed the cost after the meeting.
Grow Ohio Valley is registered as a nonprofit organization. That means it is tax-exempt.
"Local food is a bull market," said Peralta. "We are excited about being a part of downtown Wheeling redevelopment."
Peralta and Swan said they believe their operation will succeed because of the demand for groceries in downtown Wheeling. Just south of the Intermodal is the 73-unit Boury Lofts apartment complex. Other downtown loft apartment projects are in the works at the Flatiron Building, the former Gerrero Music building and the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel tower.
Peralta said the available items likely would include tofu, seaweed, locally raised beef, chicken lamb and turkey, walnuts and almonds, locally grown fruits and vegetables, craft beer and grab-and-go foods. He said he hopes to open in August, but said the $27,000 worth of work may be an obstacle.
"At a minimum, we need to increase the electrical capacity and upgrade the plumbing," said Peralta after the meeting. "It really is not ready for a business."
He said Tuesday he could not be certain if the project would proceed if the city did not pay for these upgrades.
Thalman and Elliott said city leaders would consider the request to fund these upgrades, but made no commitment to do so.
"We have to consider how we're spending tax dollars," said Thalman.
Peralta and Swan said they hope eventually to perform additional upgrades to the space in the amount of about $150,000. However, Peralta said they do not anticipate asking taxpayers to cover this bill.