Fauntleroy Place work to resume in summer? “Sale still pending”

| Development | Triangle | West Seattle news

While reporting a few notes yesterday about Fauntleroy Place (future Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics/residential site at Fauntleroy/Alaska/39th), we mentioned we still hadn’t heard back from primary site owners Seattle Capital regarding the status of the pending sale they disclosed two months ago. Once it’s sold, Seattle Capital had said back in January, that would pave the way for construction to resume. So we put in another request for comment today – and just heard back from Seattle Capital’s John Huddleston:

Yes, there is still a sale pending. (currently in the due diligence phase of the Purchase and Sale agreement.) Closing of the sale is anticipated to occur sometime prior to the end of June, 2009.

Construction would most likely begin very shortly after closing. The site itself is currently being actively maintained by the original contractor, Ledcor Construction Inc.

The permit for the Phase II construction has been issued. This covers the underground parking as well as the Commercial floor space above it. The Phase III permit for the residential towers above the commercial space has been applied for and is currently being processed.

Active work on the site stopped last fall; developers BlueStar had repeatedly said the project was simply “between phases” — then, last month, the allegations in two lawsuits (reported here and here) gave the situation a new dimension.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: An article in today’s Daily Journal of Commerce (only available to subscribers) has some new information about the prospective buyers. We have a message out seeking an opportunity for comment; the article reiterates what Seattle Capital told us – construction is likely to resume midsummer (or later).

Sage April 7, 2009 (1:52 pm)

The various developers and other parties on this project have been consistently misleading about the timelines of this project, and it’s not clear why any of their carefully hedged timeline projects should be taken the least bit seriously. Sure they say that construction will start up “very shortly” after the closing of a sale agreement that’s still in due diligence. But there’s no closing date. And most likely no new construction bid out. And the commercial real estate market is crashing. And what lender would finance the construction of a luxury food store in this economic climate?
.
It is interesting to learn from this saga that developers apparently lie to themselves, each other, and their clients nearly as much as they lie to the community. That’s reassuring, somehow.
.
In any event, Whole Foods is a libertarian, soulless, anti-union corporation that deserves to be known for a big fat hole in the ground. Sometimes things work out for the best.

ivan April 7, 2009 (3:53 pm)

I still say put the Farmers’ Market there instead. With a permanent site and plenty of parking, it could be open 3-4 days a week.

Roger April 7, 2009 (4:23 pm)

I still think it would make an awesome deep water swimming center. The Seattle SCUBA institute! We could probably keep it filled 9 months of the year with grey water runoff from the roof! Seriously though, it’s sad that entering West Seattle via Fauntleroy is such a train wreck right now. Between the giant hole & the vacant Huling properties, it looks like you’re coming into a crappy part of town, when in fact just the opposite is true.

KateMcA April 8, 2009 (9:04 am)

Awesome! Huge hole in the ground for sale (zoned commercial). It looks like the portal to Hades when you drive into WS now, just as it would if they had actually completed the “Whole Paycheck” project there. Thanks a bunch Seattle Capital and Co!

Sorry, comment time is over.