After years of debate on how to revitalize the Martin Luther King Drive area, a new shopping center will soon lead the way, and its anchor tenant is slated to open this Monday. Dubbed the area's first African-American full-service supermarket, CitiMarkets has been gearing up for its Feb. 1 grand opening. CitiMarkets officials said that they will carry items specific to the African-American community, much like an Italian deli or an Asian market. "When people think of us," Daniel Banks, the owner of CitiMarkets, said in a written statement, "I want them to think of our slogan - 'CitiMarkets: Setting the Standard in Urban Supermarkets.' Once they experience our service and convenience, I know they will come back." CitiMarkets will cut the ribbons and usher in the first official customers of the newest beacon of improvement along Martin Luther King Drive this week, standing as the end result of over 20 years of redevelopment planning and brainstorming. The new shopping center, located at 360 Martin Luther King Dr., will be the flagship operation of the redevelopment of that area. CitiMarkets is the first store to open its doors in the MLK Center. The shopping center has been affectionately called "The HUB" by redevelopment officials because of the central location that it has in the future of the King Drive area. "We're hoping the rest of the improvement in that area comes out of the HUB, much like spokes in a wheel," Thomas Ahern, executive director of the Economic Development Corporation, said. Just as the HUB is expected to be a central player in the area's success, CitiMarkets is being counted on to lead the way for the rest of the stores included in the shopping center. "The anchor store in any shopping center sets the tone," Ahern said. "It attracts most of the customers." Hoping for 10 more CitiMarkets is currently the only store leased out of the HUB thus far. As the landlord of the shopping center, renting space to the storeowners, the JCEDC said that they expect another 10 stores to move in, but because none of the other leases have been signed, Ahern could not comment what the other stores may be. It is expected, however, that two restaurants and a host of apparel and retail stores will fill in the rest of the red brick structure. In almost two decades, four King Drive redevelopment plans have been submitted to the Planning Board. The final plan, which has produced the Martin Luther King Drive Center, included the most community input and the wishes of the people that live in that area, according to city officials. In total, the supermarket will create 150 jobs for Jersey City residents. According to the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation, who partnered with the King Drive Neighborhood Development Corporation to build the shopping center, almost 20 acres of land were purchased and over 100 families were relocated to clear the zone in the last four years. "We're hoping that it revitalizes the entire 16 blocks of King Drive," Ahern said. The building of the shopping center has totaled almost $25 million, with promises of a new post office and relocation of assorted churches and a fire station also on the table. Included in the $25 million cost are a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as an Urban Development Action Grant, according to a recent CitiMarkets press release. As a part of the Urban Enterprise Zone, CitiMarkets and the other HUB stores will enjoy the tax incentives that come with such designation. All UEZ stores require only a 3-percent sales tax, half of the normal state sales tax, which is then returned to that area for improvement by the state UEZ office.