West Seattle development: CVS finally uncloaks for Fauntleroy Way

For the first time since a proposed standalone drugstore project became public – first reported here in late July – it’s officially listed in public records as a future CVS Pharmacy. The project proposed for 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW has yet to be scheduled for a design-review meeting. It’s been assumed that it would be CVS because of the client list of the company listed as the applicant, and because of similar applications in other areas, but now the name has formally emerged for the first time – on a liquor-license application.

Washington CVS Pharmacy, LLC, has just applied for beer/wine/spirits sales licenses for the Fauntleroy Way SW site as well as for the lower Queen Anne, Wallingford, and Burien locations that were mentioned in our July report. Other than this, no new documents regarding the West Seattle project have emerged since the ones we found in late July, mentioning a one-story, 14,500-square-foot store (the site is zoned for mixed-use development up to 8 stories). But if you’re looking for hints, you might look at the newest design proposal for the lower Queen Anne project, which goes back to Design Review next week – though keep in mind there are site differences, such as size (the smaller Queen Anne site is proposed for an underground garage, while the roughed-out “site plan” for West Seattle showed surface parking).

25 Replies to "West Seattle development: CVS finally uncloaks for Fauntleroy Way"

  • Greta November 7, 2013 (9:50 pm)

    Do not want.

  • Red cup November 7, 2013 (10:27 pm)

    I think people should check out their local rite-aid. Best beer/alcohol prices! I’ll support them!

  • JK November 7, 2013 (11:12 pm)

    Nor I, Greta. Don’t mind the Whole Foods or the gym, but no thank you to a large pharmacy with surface parking lot on that lot. Especially with liquor license. No.

  • Nwmama November 7, 2013 (11:59 pm)

    I prefer locally owned, WS based bartells.

  • Diane November 8, 2013 (12:29 am)

    yes, Bartell Drugs; local, been here since the pioneer days; visible in many of the very old photos in Pioneer Square

  • twobottles November 8, 2013 (6:16 am)

    If nobody wants it there, if nobody shops there, it will go away.

  • Paul November 8, 2013 (6:24 am)

    I like to think of this as in interim use until the light rail station comes…

  • Wendi November 8, 2013 (6:38 am)

    West Seattle doesn’t need one more pharmacy or bank.

  • Mike November 8, 2013 (7:12 am)

    @Paul. Another 50 years? That is hardly interim. :)

    And no to CVS (or for that matter, Whole Foods). Shop locally owned-Bartell, PCC.

  • JayDee November 8, 2013 (8:01 am)

    I will miss West Seattle Produce (locally-owned as well).

  • Sue November 8, 2013 (8:30 am)

    I’m really surprised that a drugstore is moving in since Bartell is 3 blocks away and Pharmaca 4 blocks away. Not to mention the pharmacy at QFC and, I assume, Safeway (haven’t been in there). All are within walking distance of all the new apartments they’re building, and that’s not even including the ones nearby like Rite Aid.

  • schwaggy November 8, 2013 (9:05 am)

    This is a ridiculous use of that lot. I am typically against the larger multi-story buildings, but if you’re going to build anything, at least make it worth it.
    One story? That’s just a waste of space.

  • JVP November 8, 2013 (9:15 am)

    I’m for denser multi-use buildings in places like this lot. We want people, not cars, in the core of the walkable area. How on earth did the city allow a suburban style store within the Urban Village overlay?

    I think they tightened up the code since then, if I remember right through an emergency resolution.

  • JayDee November 8, 2013 (9:52 am)

    Why can’t the City just say, sorry Charlie, you can’t build a one-story building there as it is not in-line with the zoning?

    • WSB November 8, 2013 (10:04 am)

      Zoning for 85 feet doesn’t mean it can ONLY be 85 feet. The parcel across the street, aka future Whole Foods etc., is zoned for higher than it’s proposed to be built to. And the emergency rules do not affect projects that were already in the system – including the CVS’s mentioned above.

  • Josh November 8, 2013 (10:18 am)

    As noted above, if nobody goes there it will go away. What makes West Seattle enjoyable is the local flavor. We really have to make the effort to go to a “Bartell” type store instead of being lazy and going through the CVS drive-through. It’s in our hands too!

  • schwaggy November 8, 2013 (10:20 am)

    Forgive my ignorance. Can this be affected if enough objections are raised during the design review?

  • DTK November 8, 2013 (11:17 am)

    Schwaggy – Not a chance. Every single person in King County can object, write letters and go to meetings without a single recognition of concern or comprehension from the DPD. They could care less about our community and the negative impact their purely revenue driven decisions have.

  • Jill November 8, 2013 (11:48 am)

    Another WS resident who is disgusted by this and will never set foot in that monstrosity (or drive through).

    JayDee, I’ve been out of the loop lately. Will WS Produce go away completely? Say it ain’t so. :(

  • CW November 8, 2013 (12:26 pm)

    The city blew it big time here. This was a prime lot for residential density near a transit hub and potential for much higher tax revenue than they will be getting from the planned use. So if CVS is confirmed, who will be the other tenant in the Whole Foods development? It was originally rumored to be a Bartell’s.

  • JayDee November 8, 2013 (12:42 pm)

    Maybe I don’t have a good enough imagination, but I can’t imagine too many empty lots or buildings that aren’t already being developed near the Junction. The city wants to buy the one next to the Whole Foods development for a park.

    So it may not go away, but I don’t know where it could go.

  • themightrabbit November 8, 2013 (1:01 pm)

    I just don’t get it. Why do we need so many frogging Pharmacies in West Seattle? Soon we’ll have as many as there are nail salons on California. Ghastly.

  • heather November 8, 2013 (2:10 pm)

    Such a disappointment.

  • natinstl November 8, 2013 (2:14 pm)

    Does anyone know if the produce stand and consigment shop will be moving locally? I’ve enjoyed both of those stores.

  • zark November 8, 2013 (3:38 pm)

    I assume the glut of pharmacies is due to planning based on old census or other data showing WS full of older folks. Hope CVS is ready to fail monumentally in our haunt. We arent really a Walmart-y neighborhood, and CVS is a decidedly Walmart-y store. Epic fail.

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