A locally-owned supermarket chain moving into the old Rite Aid Building fills a gaping void in downtown Salem, which for years has added apartments and businesses without having an accessible grocery store.

El Torito Supermarket recently received $470,000 in city grants to put toward revitalizing the long-vacant Rite Aid building at 435 Liberty Street S.E. 

After renovations, it will be the only full-service grocery option in a densely populated area of Salem where many residents won’t find a grocery store for about a mile. 

Salem developers and city leaders expect the grocery to further spur economic growth and development downtown, a long-time city priority.

In recent years, the city has invested in adding hundreds of apartments downtown, through giving tax breaks to developers. One project in the works includes a complex with 105 apartments at the site of the former Salem City Hall at 277 High St N.E.  

Council also has expanded its initiatives to address downtown business owners’ concerns about homelessness, including with a newly launched six-month pilot program to team up paramedics and a mental health worker to respond to emergency calls.

The city’s grant to El Torito, which the city’s Urban Renewal Agency unanimously approved last month, will help the company complete projects like putting in a brand new lighting system, HVAC upgrades and major building improvements.

The agency is made up of all 9 members of the Salem City Council, and Salem Mayor Julie Hoy serves as its chair. 

The city ultimately voted to grant El Torito close to a half a million dollars, raising its $300,000 maximum grant allocation by about $170,000. It also granted an exception to the mandatory eligibility requirements to accommodate the project. 

The entire project is expected to cost around $2 million, with a goal to open later this year. El Torito has two other stores in northeast Salem on Northeast Lancaster Drive and offers a deli, meat counter, fresh produce, bakery goods and other amenities. The store is expected to bring at least 30 new jobs over time. 

“I know folks in Ward 1 and in downtown and a lot of folks across Salem have been hoping for a new grocery store to come downtown,” Councilor Paul Tigan, who represents most of downtown, said at the agency’s meeting on May 11. “I’m very excited that the Urban Renewal Agency will be helping invest in bringing El Torito to a much needed spot here in downtown.” 

Currently, the closest full-service grocery store for many downtown residents is the Safeway at 1265 Center St N.E. In September, the Grocery Outlet on D Street downtown closed and moved to Southeast Commercial Street, reducing already scant grocery options for downtown residents.  

Downtown Salem is considered low-income, and many residents are far enough away from a grocery store to qualify the area under United States Department of Agriculture guidelines as a food desert, according to Jared Hibbard-Swanson, a food security and safety program manager with the Oregon State University Extension Service. 

“You can see that downtown Salem has a high poverty rate and a significant number of housing units that are more than a half mile from a grocery store,” Hibbard-Swanson said. “Oftentimes the reason an area has no grocery store is the result of zoning decisions and economic decisions made over the decades that have led to there not being a grocery store in certain areas.”

Hibbard-Swanson, a Salem resident, said he is thrilled to hear El Torito is moving into the Rite Aid building. He said the grocery store isn’t a panacea that will solve all of downtown’s issues with food access, but it will certainly be a net positive for economic growth.

“It’s not like we just plop a grocery store down in a ‘desert’ and suddenly there’s an oasis and everybody has access,” Hibbard-Swanson said. “We need to work on policy solutions around food advertising and the stressors that lead people to go to those convenience foods when they are working multiple jobs etc.”

Economic growth has been a stated goal from the city, and city officials have long sought to fill vacant properties like the Rite Aid building as it works to continue revitalizing downtown. 

Those in the development community like commercial real estate investor Nate Levin agree El Torito downtown is a game changer when it comes to making the city’s core a more desirable place to live. 

Levin said all the new apartments going up downtown will bring in residents who will require a grocery store close by. He said he tried to purchase the Rite Aid building three times, himself, because it is one of the few properties downtown with ample parking. 

“Putting (El Torito) in that location will be a positive consequence for the downtown Salem community,” Levin said. “Is it likely that they will be successful because there ain’t no competition? … the answer is yes.” 

Levin said getting the building ready will be a heavy lift for El Torito, but the venture is likely to pay off for both El Torito and the city. 

“It’ll take time to develop … but as that happens then it will grow and continue, and more businesses will come in to support that because they will follow along realizing that there is the opportunity,” Levin said.

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected]. 

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