Syracuse, N.Y. -- Construction is expected to begin this summer on a long-awaited Tops Friendly Markets at Valley Plaza on the city’s South Side, although it is still not clear how soon the working-class neighborhood will get its new supermarket.
State agencies are in the final stages of approving a $275,000 grant for the project, and Tops officials have said they plan to start building the store soon after the grant is in place, said Ben Walsh, the city’s deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development.
Katie McKenna, speaking for Tops, said the company has not set a target date for opening the store.
“We would expect construction to begin soon after final approval,” she said in an email. “However, (we) have not identified a specific start date or timeline for construction at this point.”
Tops plans to renovate a former P&C Foods store that closed in 2009.
Directors of Empire State Development Corp., the state’s economic development arm, voted May 17 to approve a $275,000 grant for the project.
Empire State Development will conduct a public hearing on the Tops grant at 10 a.m. June 14 at the Hughes State Office Building, 333 E. Washington St. After that, the grant will get a final review by the Public Authorities Control Board, which is expected to consider it sometime in June, Walsh said.
Walsh said he does not expect any problems with the state funds.
“Tops has indicated to us that as soon as all those approvals have been made, they will commence work,” Walsh said.
According to a project summary from Empire State Development, completion of the supermarket is expected in December 2012. Tops will cover $1.225 million — or 82 percent — of the $1.5 million cost of renovating and equipping the store.
Neighborhood groups and city officials have focused a lot of attention on luring a supermarket to the location, which is more than a mile from the next nearest full-service grocery.
Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 470-3023.