Tom Delahaye and CST Developers have donated some 14 acres at the corner of Prescott and Joor roads for a new grocery store, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and Metro Council member Darryl Hurst announced Thursday.
The site was previously studied for its feasibility to be developed as a grocery after Delahaye initially proposed to build a multiuse development—Joor Place—on the land with nearly 600 residential units.
The city-parish is meeting this week with representatives from Houston-based Pyburn’s Grocery, representatives from Baton Rouge-based Associated Grocers, as well as with consultants in regard to the potential project.
Most of north Baton Rouge is considered a food desert and the area has struggled to attract a grocery store for years. A three-year initiative launched by the Broome administration in late 2019 to recruit new grocery stores to underserved neighborhoods in the parish sunsetted in 2022 without any deals for a new store.
Last month, Rouses Market opened a 44,000-square-foot store along Florida Boulevard, anchoring the redeveloped Ardenwood Shopping Center.
