(Rendering provided by Trader Joe’s with the June West Seattle announcement)
With three and a half months having elapsed since Trader Joe’s announced it was finally, really, truly coming to West Seattle – but no sign of construction on the site yet – some local TJ’s fans are starting to get nervous. We’ve received several notes in the past few weeks asking if we know why work hasn’t begun. The official online project page on the city Department of Planning and Development site hasn’t changed since shortly after the announcement, and DPD spokesperson Bryan Stevens says Trader Joe’s has not yet turned in the formal application for the building permit – so we talked with the local point person for the project: John Wunder from Associates West, who represents Huling-owned properties around the area, like this one. He says the project is still progressing, and that his Trader Joe’s contact told him today that they plan to file the official application within a month, to get permission for the remodeling work at the former Huling Buick showroom (as detailed in our post-announcement followup in June). According to Wunder, Trader Joe’s currently expects to be open here in “late spring of next year.”
SIDE NOTE: While talking with Wunder, we asked him about a rumor that Whole Foods – which as reported here in July has formally dropped out of the idled-and-court-knotted Fauntleroy Place project across the street – had reportedly signed a letter of intent for another Huling site. He says that is NOT true. He acknowledges they’ve spoken with Whole Foods, but suspects they’re far from the only local landowners/property managers who have done so.
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