The Greenwood Fred Meyer will close at the end of Saturday, Feb. 25, for an extensive remodel that will grow the store by more than 55,305-square-feet. Most everything in the store is being sold at clearance prices, up to 70 percent off.
Fred Meyer plans a down-to-the-studs remodel of its current building, and it will demolish the former Greenwood Market building to make way for the expansion. The new Fred Meyer will be approximately 170,000-square-feet, and will include groceries, something the current Fred Meyer lacks.
The City of Seattle today announced its approval of Fred Meyer’s Land Use Application, and its environmental review with a Determination of Non-Significance. You can read the full decision here. Here are a few highlights:
Site work would include demolition of some of the existing pavement, restriping of the parking areas, installation of landscaped areas including both decorative planting areas, and green stormwater swales. An underground stormwater detention vault and water quality treatment facility would also be constructed.
Pedestrian pathways between N.W. 85th St. and the store and across the site in the east west direction would also be constructed. A 12 foot tall concrete block wall would provide sound attenuation of the loading dock area for receptors to the west.
An existing landscape buffer along the north side of the existing Fred Meyer building would be extended at the same or slightly greater depth to the west across the entire site, screening the new addition as well.
Street improvements would include alley widening, The number of curb cuts into the property is proposed to be reduced from nine to five.
As described in the applicant’s SEPA checklist, “temporary dewatering will likely be needed to allow construction of the basement portion of the addition and the elevator and escalator pits within the addition and existing building areas. Groundwater from temporary dewatering operations will be reintroduced into the ground on site to maintain the existing groundwater level in the adjacent peat settlement-prone area and buffer. No groundwater will be removed from the site during temporary dewatering.” “Peat soils will not be graded or removed from the site.”
As further indicated in the SEPA Checklist, “The northeast portion of the site is underlain by compressible peat. In addition, the upper portion of the lacustrine deposits may also be compressible. These soils could result in settlement under the weight of new loads; i.e., fills and structures placed above them. The area of sub-grade construction that is within the Category I Peat Settlement-Prone Area’s 50 foot buffer is small, at approximately 3,500 square feet.
Nevertheless, proposed construction methods for the store addition in this area will use piles, rock-filled columns, or other methods to transfer structural loads through the compressible soils to more competent strata below.” “Foundation support for the portion of the addition outside of the peat settlement-prone area and its associated buffer will likely consist of shallow spread footings.”
