From a shaded bench in Evans Plaza, Sarah Walker can point to at least three sites of former grocery stores within just a few blocks.

“We used to have the largest Safeway grocery store up there on the corner,” said Walker, who lives in nearby Riverside. Now, the closest full-service grocery store, the Walmart Supercenter in Renaissance Square, is more than three miles away.

The long-awaited redevelopment of Evans & Rosedale is trying to change that.

The 7.5-acre multi-use project from Dallas-based developer Hoque Global will include apartments, commercial space for offices or retail tenants, green space, a playground and, perhaps most crucially, efforts to “attract a grocer.”

Hoque Global intends to break ground during the third quarter of 2022, about three years after being tapped for the project.

Since 2019, Hoque Global partnered with the city and neighborhood residents to design a project that reflects the community’s needs. Access to food was top of mind, said Walker, who attended two of the meetings.

Evans & Rosedale sits squarely in ZIP code 76104, on the city’s Historic South Side. A 2019 study from UT Southwestern found 76104 had the lowest life expectancy in the state. In a subsequent investigation, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram highlighted stories from 76104 residents east of Interstate 35, which bisects the ZIP code and acts as a barrier to amenities like health care, pharmacies and grocery stores.

“A grocery store will certainly support the historic south,” said Fort Worth District 8 council member Chris Nettles. The ZIP code has the state’s lowest life expectancy, “because we have lack of access.”

“I think the development at Evans & Rosedale is going to not only bring a grocery store, but it’s going to bring other things to the area, possibly a clinic or doctor’s office, even hopefully a drugstore” he added.

To attract a grocery store to the South Side food desert, the city is prepared to provide incentives, Nettles said.

“The city rolled out the red carpet for them,” Nettle’s District Director Sally Matzen said about the Walmart Supercenter on Renaissance Square. “We’re working on a package like that.”

But incentives might not be necessary.

Once the developer breaks ground, Hoque Global’s credibility and existing relationships with grocers will attract tenants, Matzen said.

To determine what kind of grocer would fit the community’s needs, Nettles’ office plans to survey residents. Options like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have been discussed, but “we don’t want to gentrify the area,” said Matzen. “That is number one.”

For that reason, keeping rent affordable in new housing units is critical. According to a recent statement from Hoque Global, some units will be available at below market prices.

Pricing of residential units “is the biggest question right now,” said Matzen. “They know we are for this as long as you don’t outprice our people.”

According to a presentation made by the city and the developer last month, Hoque Global has committed to offering 10% of units to people who earn at or less than 80% of the annual Fort Worth-Arlington median income.

For a single-person household, 80% of the median is $45,300, and 60% is $33,950.

In 2019, the median income for households in 76104 was $31,450.

Matzen said she’s spoken with Dallas City Council members about Hoque Global’s urban redevelopment projects, and they’ve had “nothing but good things to say about them.” Hoque Global is working on similar projects in Dallas, including SoGood, a development south of I-30.

Public comment on the plan was requested by Sept. 30, but Matzen said the city still wants to hear from stakeholders about the project.

Hoque Global will continue to conduct community meetings every six months and provide quarterly updates to the city.

“We want to make sure you all are engaged in this process. We want to make sure you know what’s going on, when things are happening, get your feedback and be able to make sure that’s understood by both the city team and the Hoque Global team,” Robert Sturns, the city’s economic development director, said to community stakeholders in a meeting Sept. 16.

The next step is getting approval for incentives and zoning changes from Fort Worth City Council. Its next meeting is Oct. 12.

“We’re hoping to see dirt movement within the next 18 months,” Nettles said.