Knoxville city council members voted on second reading to give the developers of the University Commons project more than $1 million.
Developers have said they were $3 million short on funding for their effort to build a Walmart and Publix near UT's campus. They said they needed the city to help make up part of the difference.
So Tuesday by a vote of seven to two, city council gave final approval for using $1.5 million in public funds for the project.