The council voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with a project to establish the Hutton Troy Marketplace, a retail center that will be more than 130,000 square feet.

“We have been working on this for two-plus years,” said Mayor Jason Reeves. “We worked very hard to make sure Hutton got a deal they could live with and we got one we could live with; it took a long time, but I think we’re there.”

In exchange for the addition of new stores, jobs and more than $30 million in capital investment, the city will pay $1.5 million to Hutton, remit half of sales tax and collect a 1-cent district fee for the development.

“This is something that is certainly a testament to your hard work and interest in Troy growing,” Reeves told the council after its vote. “I think we’ve seen that.”

The new center will be located on U.S. Highway 231 next to Lowe’s across from Troy Regional Medical Center.

Reeves said there is a total project area of about 25 acres that could be developed there in the coming years.

“We certainly would expect to see retailers that we do not currently have,” Reeves said. “This will bring new anchor-type shopping locations to not only hold shoppers in Troy, but also to draw shoppers from the surrounding area. There will be quite a few new jobs created, many full-time and a lot, like all retail, will be part-time.”

Reeves said he can’t yet name some of the potential retailers, but said names of the stores should be revealed soon. The center will primarily be retail stores, Reeves said, although the center could include restaurants as well.

The council also approved a grant application for improvements at the Troy Municipal Airport that have not been taken since 1983.

The council unanimously approve to seek a grant for a project to replace runway lighting on runway 725, which GMC engineer Al Allenback said would be easier to maintain and will be more cost-efficient for the city. The FAA would fund 90 percent of the project, contributing $608,000, while the Alabama Department of Transportation and the City of Troy will each contribute $33,787, or 5 percent.

The council also voted unanimously to secure GMC as architects for the first phase in renovating Academy Street High School so that the city can apply for a CDBG grant that would require the city to provide a 10 percent match. The grant covers up to $250,000.

Planning administrator Melissa Sanders said the project will get the primary building functional and useable by citizens while further funding is secured to flesh out some of the other plans crafted earlier this year by DesignAlabama.