Two days ago the Seattle P.I. reported that Fred Meyer may be abandoning its plans to redevelop the site of the current store on 85th Street to include a massive one-level store, parking garage and housing units, and may instead simply remodel the existing store.
Fred Meyer officials have not yet responded to several messages left by PhinneyWood.
But this morning, Ted Panton, the lead architect for the project for GGLO, said that he and his team know just about as much as what’s been reported in the media. Panton, who lives in Phinney/Greenwood, said Fred Meyer hasn’t informed GGLO about their plans, and that he hasn’t worked on the project for about four months as it’s worked its way through the city permitting process.
The latest redevelopment plan had been to demolish the existing Fred Meyer and Greenwood Market. Both lease the land from Greenwood Shopping Center. Greenwood Market’s lease expires later this year, and Greenwood Shopping Center declined to renew it. Fred Meyer has a 20-year lease, with eight additional five-year renewals. Fred Meyer’s plan had been to build a 170,000-square-foot single-level store partly underground. A nearly 700-stall parking garage would be at the northeast corner, and about 250 housing units would be on the west side, plus about 25,000 square feet of retail space for other tenants along the south and east sides.
The city approved Fred Meyer’s basic design last September. At that time, Fred Meyer told the design review committee that single-story stores work best; while two-level stores bring in about 40 percent less revenue, cost more to staff and lose more to theft.
The P.I.’s story quoted city Department of Planning and Development staff as saying Fred Meyer’s new plan was to remodel the existing store to house groceries, jewelry and electronics, and to eventually turn the Greenwood Market site into a garden center.
25 responses so far ↓
1 iheartgreenwood // Aug 18, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I hope all the community fracas hasn’t made them change their minds. I love Greenwood Market and don’t want to see it go, but our Fred Meyer is a ghetto Fred Meyer and an update would really clean up the neighborhood. I like the idea of the new development. Progress is a good thing.
2 SounderAtHeart // Aug 18, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Glad that they are changing their minds. Even though they won’t be redoing the entire square block, does this still mean that Greenwood Market is nixed? That would be a shame!
@ i heart greenwood. There are too many large housing complexes in the world today. I am glad they changed their minds. But I do agree that the current fred meyer is not attractive and the plan is still to give it a large face lift. Best of both worlds, IMO.
3 MonkeyPilot // Aug 18, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I would wager that the lingering economic stagnation has a lot more to do with it. Witness the number of empty apartments and storefronts all over Greenwood, Seattle, etc. Unfortunate, but probably wise given the slow pace of the economic recovery.
4 Kat // Aug 18, 2010 at 1:40 pm
I personally LOVE that Fred Meyers. The people who work their are laid back and the store is never crazy busy. I can get in and out and find an awesome parking spot. I also love the greenwood market. I hope they keep it how it is. I don’t think it makes that spot look “ghetto” at all.
5 So many NIMBYs // Aug 18, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I lived near the old Safeway on Stone Way for many years and witnessed the results of NIMBY-ism gone awry in that site. QFC was close to redeveloping the site when adjacent neighbors launched a campaign to stop the effort. Traffic, noise, loss of views were all cited as reasons to “re-design” the project. After several re-design rounds, and with the same small group of neighbors still moaning, QFC walked away from the project. Now more than 7 years after the Safeway was demolished, there is still nothing but a big hole in the ground at 40th and Stone Way. Way to go neighborhood activists.
6 SarahB // Aug 18, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I agree completely. I am kind of sick of neighborhood activists. In a way I respect their efforts to try to bring about the type of change that THEY think is best, but it also irritates me that they think they should have a very loud vocal say in what a private owner does with their own property. What ever happened to the concept of private property? Personally I would love to see the aging fred meyer updated to a current version of the same thing and move on from the whole “bog-dewatering” crowd.
7 Iron City Mike // Aug 18, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Congrats to everyone who protested the Fred Meyer – you managed to delay and delay and delay until they finally gave up. Hopefully they will continue with the remodel at least and not leave a big vacant lot like on Stone Way.
8 clueless // Aug 18, 2010 at 3:47 pm
protests? NIMBY? The few voices questioning the this project in light of the OTHER giant FM store 2 miles away, the recession that has left excess capacity in housing and retail, and the unresolved issues of zoning, traffic, and groundwater were pretty mild.
Who is responsible for the pit on Stone Way, the Sunset Bowl, or the Ballard Denny’s? Developers that obviously weren’t ready to move ahead with their project, and left the rest of us to deal with their mistakes. Isn’t it bad enough that we have one empty lot in the neighborhood resulting from shortsighted “development” already? Maybe Kroger woke up to the reality that there are already too many empty apartments and storefronts nearby without adding to the problem.
9 Whopper // Aug 18, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Yeah, no jobs and investment! Every loony leftists dream!
10 Whopper // Aug 18, 2010 at 4:18 pm
“our Fred Meyer is a ghetto Fred Meyer ”
Also seems to be a dumping ground for all the worst Freddies employees. Seriously, I’ve had dogs that were smarter than most of the folks working there.
“The people who work their are laid”
You mean dumb as rocks right? They can barely use the scanner at the checkout and the help desk looks like the bar scene from Star Wars most days.
Well done guys, you’ve managed to stop Green’hood from becoming less of a dump.
11 peggy // Aug 18, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR THERE IS HESITATION!!!
We do not need another massive Fred Meyer! Isn’t the Ballard store–which overwhelms a lovely ship canal waterfront site–close enough? The loss of Greenwood Market would be tragic for our neighborhood. And, it’s not just about a grocery store. It’s about a way of life: for teenagers looking for work, for the homeless folks selling Real Change and a few others asking respectfully for a hand-out, for all of us Greenwood homeowners wanting a store that stocks local produce and organic items.
If Fred Meyer/Kroger is thinking twice, I am all for it!!
12 Tiktok // Aug 18, 2010 at 6:43 pm
It’s the basement checkout staff at the FM that are the worst. The employees on the ground floor seem about average.
And the Ballard FM is a shame–really spoils the industrial marine industry architecture and the van/RV camping in that area. Really brings the whole neighborhood down.
13 NW // Aug 18, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Whopper, get a life dude. Is it your only purpose in life to annoy people? It’s like he decides “Today I’m gonna f–k with the employees at Freddy’s.” Even more pathetic is that you are a coward and hide behind a keyboard. We all get it, how sh-tty your life must be.
14 Rob Fellows // Aug 18, 2010 at 10:11 pm
I like the people who work at Fred Meyer. And I hate seeing people snipe at people just doing their job in our neighborhood – what’s that about??
On the bigger issue, I just need to make sure everyone knows that this neighborhood has taken a different tack from some others when it comes to development. Instead of knee-jerk fighting, we’ve tried to get ahead of development and develop collaborative plans with Fred Meyer and the owners of the Greenwood Shopping Center. We (the community council, when I was involved) worked with the city, the chamber, the shopping center and Fred Meyer to prepare a town center plan that addressed market opportunities, urban design and transportation in Greenwood, and we reached some agreements that shaped the development proposals that followed. I’m sort of proud of the approach our neighborhood took to develop good relations rather than just to fight change. After many years of this, I think Fred Meyer and the shopping center really wanted to develop something the community would want, and I think all of us will be sorry if it doesn’t go forward due to the economic storm we find ourselves in.
I don’t think this is a time for finger-pointing; it’s a time to take stock of how conditions have changed and develop a new plan.
15 Tim // Aug 19, 2010 at 12:30 am
Lame. This development would continue the revitilization of Greenwood. I love what is happening on Greenwood north of 85th and was excited about more retail going in nearby. Good for all our property values. It’s nice to see so many people walking around shopping, eating and drinking when this area was so dead for so long. I don’t shop at Greenwood Market…crappy selection and too expensive so that would not be missed. It bums me out that this city is so slow to embrace progress and that a few busybodies can bog down a project that would bring jobs and tax dollars to our hood. Think of others besides yourselves for a change. What the heck are you afraid of anyway?
16 Justin // Aug 19, 2010 at 7:17 am
This is probably the worst possible outcome. It sounds like 1) the Greenwood Market lease still runs out and they leave and 2) there’s no redevelopment. So, we’re left with a huge, dumpy-looking Fred Meyer spread across two buildings? And a huge, decaying parking lot that’s rarely more than 1/4 full?
I have no idea how anyone can be happy about this.
17 Mark // Aug 19, 2010 at 8:16 am
Finally someone who agrees with me, thank you Justin. You brought up a good point: “The GWM lease”. If this is true that GWM does not renew or so chooses to leave, then what is the solution to get something built on this land.
I hope everyone out here has thought about this option of GWM not renewing their lease, which will mean like Justin says, “we’re left with a huge, dumpy-looking Fred Meyer spread across two buildings? And a huge, decaying parking lot that’s rarely more than 1/4 full?”
All I know is that there were plans that had been drawn up and approved. The interest of Fred Meyer to redevelop was/is great, let me say that again “redevelop” would have hopefully increased the interest of other businesses to clean up their spots ie: old Pizza Hut and the old dance club, Checkers. No guarantees but hopefully.
Now we wait and watch Fred Meyer close this store along with GWM, which leaves us with nothing. The downtown Greenwood corridor has wat to many empty businesses as it is. Fire damage killed four, GW Hair Salon lost its lease, up the road, Lai Lana Lanes, gone who’s next?
We need advocate’s for growth not advocate’s against development of any sort.
Let Greenwood grow like the other Seattle neighborhood communities.
18 iheartgreenwood // Aug 19, 2010 at 9:07 am
I am thrilled to learn that I am not the only one!
19 Whopper // Aug 19, 2010 at 9:29 am
“I have no idea how anyone can be happy about this.”
Some people hate progress or maybe they enjoy the fact that the entire junky block is one giant thug and bum magnet.
20 NW // Aug 19, 2010 at 9:36 am
“Some people hate progress or maybe they enjoy the fact that the entire junky block is one giant thug and bum magnet”
What? You mean like downtown Ballard?
21 Jon // Aug 19, 2010 at 9:43 am
Whopper, my main man, you wouldn’t last a second in Ballard…
22 BB // Aug 19, 2010 at 9:45 am
People! Greenwood Market is leaving regarless of the FM plans. Wouldn’t it be better to have a new development than a ugly alphalt landscape that is there now!?
23 MonkeyPilot // Aug 19, 2010 at 10:12 am
Maybe I’m the only one, but I think it’s better to have a dumpy FM store than a fenced-in field of rubble (like the Sunset Bowl, Leilani lanes, Ballard Denny’s, etc.) The Fremont swimming hole (site of a planned QFC) is not the only project that has been abandoned by Kroger. Google it for yourself and you’ll find a trail of them in TN, OH, MI- and that was just on the first page of hits. Not really that surprising either, since it would be in competition with itself, sitting squarely between QFC on Holman, and FM in Ballard.
Why people dump on GM (part of a truly local chain, Town & Country Markets) in support of a hopeful and clearly tentative development by Kroger is beyond me.
24 mrd // Aug 19, 2010 at 11:48 am
Does anyone know if there is anyway that Greenwood market could renew their lease and stay? At least while this continues to get figured out so we’re not left with no grocery store and nothing filling in its place? I would LOVE for greenwood market to stay!!
25 Tiktok // Aug 19, 2010 at 1:52 pm
I’m sure GM could stay on a month-to-month basis while all the NIMBY’s work out their issues and the economy rights itself over the course of the next….decade. But, I doubt they’d want to do so.
Looking forward to Checkers II once GM leaves!
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