The shelves are being stocked inside the first Meijer Inc. store in the city of Detroit, a 215,000-square-foot store at Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, as it prepares to open July 25.

Employing around 400 full- and part-time workers, the store on the southeast side of the intersection will anchor the $72 million Gateway Marketplace retail center, which is about 95 percent pre-leased, according to Dale Watchowski, CEO, COO and president of Southfield-based Redico LLC, the developer of the project.

Gateway Marketplace is expected to employ about 900 full- and part-time workers total.

Michigan brownfield redevelopment tax credits, which are for the development of blighted or contaminated sites; U.S. Department of Treasury New Market tax credits, which are for business and real estate projects in low-income areas; and private financing funded the project, said Kenneth Till, senior vice president of development for Redico.

An invitation-only grand opening celebration is planned in advance of the opening; Meijer will invite as many as 1,000 guests, Watchowski said.

The Meijer features a gas station, a drive-through pharmacy, a 1,000-square-foot Huntington National Bank branch, more than 100,000 products and 700 types of fresh produce, according to Watchowski.

Other tenants at the 36-acre Gateway Marketplace are

a 28,000-square-foot Marshalls Inc. department store (unknown opening date).

department store (unknown opening date). a 7,500-square-foot Payless ShoeSource store (Sept. 7 opening date).

store (Sept. 7 opening date). a 4,000-square-foot Dots clothing store (September opening date).

clothing store (September opening date). a 10,100-square-foot K&G Fashion Superstore menswear retailer (July 23 opening date).

menswear retailer (July 23 opening date). a 12,500-square-foot Petco Animal Supplies Inc. store (July 22 opening date).

store (July 22 opening date). a 2,350-square-foot SVS Vision Optical Centers store (October opening date).

store (October opening date). an 8,000-square-foot Five Below Inc. discount retailer (unknown opening date).

discount retailer (unknown opening date). a 2,000-square-foot Wingstop Restaurants Inc. restaurant (September opening date).

restaurant (September opening date). a 1,600-square-foot Subway sandwich shop (September opening date).

sandwich shop (September opening date). a 4,200-square-foot McDonald's fast food restaurant (unknown opening date).

fast food restaurant (unknown opening date). a 3,685-square-foot PNC Bank branch (unknown opening date).

Watchowski said there are 174,000 people living in the 3-mile radius around the development, and 480,000 within 5 miles. The average household income is $54,000 in the 3-mile radius, and $52,000 within 5 miles. About 120,000 vehicles drive through the Eight Mile/Woodward intersection each day, he said.

"From the standpoint of demographics, I think it's a brilliant location," Watchowski said. "What it's doing is tapping a market that was previously underserved for grocery."

Three other major grocery stores have been announced or have opened in Detroit in 2013: two Papa Joe's Gourmet Markets, a 9,000-square-foot store in the Renaissance Center catering to workers in that building, and a 22,000-square-foot store in the First National Building at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Cadillac Square; and the Whole Foods Inc. store that opened last month at 115 Mack Ave. in Midtown.

Bloomfield Hills-based Rogvoy Architects PC was the architectural firm for Gateway Marketplace, and a joint venture between Detroit-based Jenkins Construction Inc. and Lake Orion-based Dailey Co. was the general contractor, Till said.

The groundbreaking for the project was in May 2012.

Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412, [email protected]. Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB