Last Friday afternoon, we published a quick first report shortly after taking a hard-hat tour of the Admiral Safeway construction site – focusing mostly on the news that the new California-fronting retail building on the site has its first signed tenant, Umpqua Bank. This morning: A closer look at what’s happening on the site. Safeway’s Sara Corn says it’s still on schedule – albeit a “tight” schedule – for the new store to open in exactly four months, on August 12th – which is 11 months after site demolition began. They are working for LEED environmental certification, which means extra steps in the process, like the duct-wrapping above. More ahead:

That sign outlines some of the jobsite rules related to LEED. Corn says they won’t know what level they’ll be certified at, till they’re done – it’s a matter of getting points for myriad features and practices along the way. The new Pinehurst Safeway, which opened last fall, is often mentioned as a model. Some of the new Admiral store’s sustainability-geared features are listed on its website.

Questions during the tour – what could be asked amid the clatter of a very active construction site! – naturally tended toward what customers will see once the store is open. It was clear that its many windows will be a signature feature – above, the view is toward the southwest side of the store, where there will be a Starbucks, with seating in an area that is a few steps above the coffee stand itself. Below, you’re looking at the “island” deli area, toward the windows along the south (SW Lander, facing Hiawatha) side:

After a look around inside, with Safeway and contractor SD Deacon reps plus Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum and longtime Admiral neighborhood activist Dennis Ross leading the way, we went up to the roof, via the ramp that’ll take cars to the parking up there for both the store and the residential units in the new building on the southwest side:

By Corn’s measure, the project is about three-fourths done – with Friday’s sunshine a bonus for the crews working on the roof:

Tomorrow, concrete is scheduled to be poured for the elevator which will provide ADA access between the roof parking – there will be some surface parking as well – and the store – this clip takes a look at the elevator site as well as the staircase next to it, which looks across the street to Lafayette Elementary and beyond to a peek view of the Olympic Mountains:

And a 360-degree view from the center of the roof deck:

Back inside for one more look:

(Hard to compare when this one is still largely a shell, but Safeway says this store is a bit smaller than the one on Roxbury.) Safeway has had a webcam going at the site for months (see the latest image here – and if you click “time lapse,” you’ll see that view going back to a later stage in the demolition process last year). The store also has a project website, which includes a few aerial photos.

SIDE NOTE: Since this is the biggest construction project in Admiral in a long time, ANA has kept close watch on it, and its leaders and members have provided input at Design Review meetings and at other stages in the process. Tonight, the recent labor protests on the California SW side of the site – which led Lafayette staff to ask for police help regarding noise disruption in its classes – will be discussed at the group’s monthly meeting, with union and subcontractor reps expected. The ANA meeting, with the rest of the agenda also including a visit by City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, is at 7 pm, Admiral Congregational Church‘s lower-level meeting room, California/Hill.