KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City leaders are welcoming a new grocery store in a neighborhood that has slowly become a food desert.

The Sun Fresh Market at Red Bridge and Holmes roads closed in January, leaving the south Kansas City community without a grocer. The next closest one is miles away.

But on Thursday, Mayor Quinton Lucas and other city leaders announced a new grocery store for the Red Bridge Shopping Center. It will be called Red Bridge Farm Fresh Market.

The store will be supported through a $1.375 million tax agreement with the city over 10 years. It’s expected to bring 80 new jobs to the area, with an average wage of $17 per hour.

“We think that it’s important as a city to make not only that we ensure that there are grocery stores in every part of the city, but that we’re not building up food deserts in our future,” Lucas said, “and that rather than having food deserts, we’re actually seeing strong, long-term investment in healthy options in every part of our city.”

The new store will open at the end of the year, giving neighbors back their option for fresh food and produce.