ABBEVILLE — A blighted former grocery store in Abbeville is being demolished after sitting vacant since 1999, paving the way for new development at no cost to taxpayers.
The community has expressed a desire for the property to be redeveloped for two decades.
“It’s a conversation that I’ve heard a lot of people in the community, as well as on the council and in government, talk about. ‘Why can’t it be redeveloped?’” Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White said.
“Today marks the end of an era of a property that has long been cause some heartburn in this community,” she added.
In 2023, the city began working with property developers to bring new life to the land.
She said, “We were contacted by developers who were interested in doing some work on the site trying to market the site for new businesses, and so at that time, we started working with the property developers and the owners to try to get them to clean up the property as well as look for opportunities for them to redevelop it."
Though the city is involved with the developers' project, the cost of the demolition does not fall on taxpayers.
“The city’s not actually doing any of the demolition. We just worked with the property owners and came up with a demolition plan with them that works for both sides, and they are 100% funding and overseeing the demolition of the building,” White said.
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