from permit application.
Some big development news that will impact traffic on the popular Vancouver-Williams bike corridor in North Portland: New Seasons Market has applied for a permit to build a new store on N. Fremont between the heavily traveled couplet.
According to the permit application filed with the City of Portland Bureau of Development Services (PDF here), the new store would be a one-story, 27,960 square food building with 60 surface parking spaces. The building will span the entire block of Fremont from Vancouver on the West to N. Williams Avenue on the East. The store will go in what is now a vacant lot across the street (diagonally) from the Williams Market and Abraham Fixes Bikes.
Here are some of the elevation profiles taken from the application…
The Williams side:
The Vancouver side:
Here’s the tax lot map:
And a drawing of the layout with parking:
This new store, if it officially moves forward, will certainly have an impact on current discussions to improve bike access and traffic safety on N. Williams Ave. One of the chief concerns many residents have raised about why traffic speeds are so high is that the corridor has lost its vibrancy due to all the vacant lots. This new store would close a huge gap in that vacancy.
New Seasons Market is a locally owned and operated company that is known for its good jobs and good — albeit more expensive than larger grocery store chains — food.
Early reaction via Twitter from two friends of mine that live and walk/bike in the area are mixed.
Joe Clinkenbeard had this to say, “Mixed feelings here too. 1-story bldg taking up the whole block, w 60 spaces? No thanks.”
Steve Bozzone, who is a member of the North Williams Traffic Safety Operations Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee commented via Twitter that, “New Seasons coming to my ‘food desert’ neighborhood? Mixed feelings. Would love to walk to groceries, not looking forward to rent increase.”
What do you think?
[Hat tip to Esther Harlow for sharing the permit application.]
UPDATE, 1/5 at 8:39am: New Seasons just made an official announcement about this new store. Read it below…
New Seasons Market Announces Site for Next Neighborhood Store
Company Leaders Dedicate 2012 to Community Outreach, Planning and Construction —Opening Slated for 2013PORTLAND, Ore. – January 5, 2012 – New Seasons Market today announced that it will open a store in Portland’s Eliot Neighborhood in 2013. The 30,000 square-foot grocery store will occupy the north portion of the now-vacant site, formerly home to Interstate Bakeries. The nearly three-acre site, commonly known as the “Bakery Blocks,” is bounded by Northeast Fremont Street to the north, North Vancouver Avenue to the west, Northeast Cook Street to the south, and North Williams Avenue to the east, all within the city’s Interstate Urban Renewal District.
The store will bring more than 150 new jobs with healthcare and benefits to the community, along with New Seasons Market’s fun and friendly shopping experience, featuring a wide selection of everyday groceries, locally grown and produced foods, homemade meals, an in-house butcher and a complete line of wellness and homegoods products.
“We strive to build community inside and outside of our stores – by employing local residents, providing goods and services to our neighbors and supporting local and regional producers and suppliers,” said Lisa Sedlar, President and CEO of New Seasons Market. “We are excited to convert this long-vacant site, which is walking and biking distance of homes, schools, offices and transit, into a lively spot that we hope will add to the neighborhood’s vitality.”
“New Seasons’ proposed new store is great news; it will bring fresh, local food and groceries to neighborhoods that last year we identified in the Portland Plan as a food desert,” said City of Portland Mayor Sam Adams.
“We’ve found the perfect tenant and partner in New Seasons Market,” said Roger Collins of Ivy Street Partners. “Our goal is to develop this site with features, services and resources that enhance the livability of the neighborhood and are accessible to everyone.”Collins is also developing a 155-unit mixed-use project at North Interstate and Skidmore, which is expected to break ground this spring. Leaders of both organizations will work closely with Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, residents, community leaders and the city to finalize the store design and site plans.
The Eliot neighborhood store will be New Seasons Market’s 13th store since opening its first store in February 2000. Updates on the project and key events will be shared on the company’s Facebook page. No date has been set for ground-breaking or the store’s opening.
About New Seasons Market
Founded by three Northwest families nearly 12 years ago, New Seasons Market is proud to be home grown and locally owned and operated. With more than 2,300 employees and 12 stores throughout the Portland-Vancouver region, New Seasons Market is also one of the region’s largest private employers and was recently rated one of Oregon’s Top 100 Companies to Work For by Oregon Business Magazine.