NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — City leaders have been working to revitalize Jefferson Avenue in Newport News with the city's Choice Neighborhood Initiative.
It's included new housing, early childhood center, health and wellness trail and now a new market with a food hall.
"We’re building a building and now we have to get all the ice machines and food safety and the stuff," said Florence Kingston, Director of City Development.
The new market will be in the Seafood Industrial Park. Small businesses will soon be able to set up shop, creating a whole new experience for the customers.
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"It's an exciting project because it’s a mixture of creating a place for small businesses to have restaurants and access to fresh food and this market that access fresh product to our community," Kingston said.
Kingston tells News 3, the market is set to go into the parking lot on 12th and Jefferson Avenue.
The project was also granted $50,000 from the commonwealth's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund Infrastructure (AFID) grant program.
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The funds will help small businesses rent equipment, secure operating space, and purchase items like ice machines, refrigeration units, ice pans, and food display equipment.
"Really one of the priorities is how do we bring in fresh food into an under resourced part of our city," said Kingston. "And so that is the exciting piece and will help us equip it with ice machines and the stuff we need for small business operators to be able to utilize it."
Construction is expected to be complete by late fall 2026.
