No CVS after all? Drugstore chain’s plan for 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW apparently dead

(From last year’s second Early Design Guidance packet for the CVS project)

Three years after we first reported the plan to bring a CVS drugstore to 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW – we’ve learned that plan has apparently quietly died.

We found this out as a spinoff of research for Monday afternoon’s update on two developments, including 4754 Fauntleroy. The CVS plan had already gone through Early Design Guidance, first stage of the Design Review process, twice, but the second meeting was more than a year ago, and no third meeting on the schedule. So we looked deeper into the files and found a document dated in May, a note to the city from CVS’s developer representative Velmeir, saying “Our client has decided not to move forward with this project…”

We’ve tried to reach Velmeir and CVS to find out more; no replies yet. We also stopped by West Seattle Produce, which was going to have to move because of the CVS project, and staffers told us they haven’t heard anything new for a while and are still on month-to-month tenancy. And we asked the city to verify that the CVS project file is closed, and DCI spokesperson Wendy Shark said yes, it is, by request of the applicant. The project had generated some controversy because it was far less than could be built on the site, which is zoned for up to eight stories.

So will CVS surface somewhere else in West Seattle? At one point, The Whittaker across Fauntleroy was supposed to have a drugstore space; we contacted its leasing executive and were reminded that since one potential pharmacy tenant didn’t pan out, they decided to split up the south retail space into several smaller spaces – no tenants to announce yet. We’ll update with anything more we find out, meantime, about the 4722 Fauntleroy site’s future.

21 Replies to "No CVS after all? Drugstore chain's plan for 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW apparently dead"

  • Villagegreen July 12, 2016 (12:28 pm)

    Excellent news! 

  • old timer July 12, 2016 (12:54 pm)

    IMO, it’s the best news in a long time.

    This will last until the next plan for the space surfaces.

  • GOOD NEIGHBOR July 12, 2016 (12:57 pm)

    Hello Mayor Murray –

    This site would make the best location for the WS Junction RAIL STATION – state of the art with rooftop greenspace,  parking, cinema, and shopping please……

    • sam-c July 12, 2016 (1:47 pm)

      IF ONLY!!!

      But of course, since that idea makes complete and total sense, the seattle process will get in the way before something so logical could ever happen.    

      • WSB July 12, 2016 (1:53 pm)

        Just a cross-referencing reminder, County Executive Dow Constantine, who chairs the Sound Transit board, speaks at Thursday’s West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch about West Seattle & light rail. Not a free event so if you’re interested in going, check if seats are available, via the Chamber website. We will of course be covering it. Also, the mayor will be at the 34th District Dems on Wednesday and CM Lisa Herbold will be at Admiral N’hood Assoc. tonight. – TR

    • Dana July 13, 2016 (2:59 pm)

      That is a good idea

    • The Owl July 18, 2016 (11:16 am)

      Yes please.

  • bolo July 12, 2016 (1:08 pm)

    Forecast: 8.5 story box, apts, w/ live-work spaces on 1st floor, no off-street parking.

  • Chuck and Sally's Van Man July 12, 2016 (1:16 pm)

    @ Good Neighbor: What a perfectly logical, forward-thinking suggestion. Which means, sadly, that it has no chance of seeing the light of day. Nah, this will be another mondo condo complex (yes, an improvement over a one-story waste-of-space), but I like your thinking. If the astronomically-price transit package goes through this fall (I should say “when,”) they’ll be needing spaces exactly like this. 

  • quiz July 12, 2016 (1:24 pm)

    Yes.

  • Oakley34 July 12, 2016 (1:41 pm)

    A CVS never made sense to me there.  WS has tons of drugstores, and QFC/Safeway serve most of the same needs right up the hill.  

  • andrew July 12, 2016 (1:54 pm)

    I don’t think that makes sense for the rail station, at least according to the draft plans. Their is plan for 3 West Seattle stations. Delridge, The Triangle, and The Junction. That space only makes sense if they were going to combine those second two stations.

    The locations that make the most sense would be right around 35th (Taco Time, KFC, Starbucks) and then having one at the South End of the Junction (7/11, True Value, or Uptown Espresso). That maximizes the walkshed of the stations, and also sets it up easily for it to continue down California in the future.

  • Alki Resident July 12, 2016 (1:55 pm)

    Id like to see a good American family restaurant in that location. 

  • seaopgal July 12, 2016 (2:04 pm)

    Whatever will we do now without that “pocket park” …

  • Junction Lady July 12, 2016 (2:06 pm)

    Who needs CVS when we already have Bartell, RiteAid, Walgreens and the grocery pharmacies?!  

  • schwaggy July 12, 2016 (2:09 pm)

    + Pharmaca

  • ellipses July 12, 2016 (4:45 pm)

    Bummer! I was rooting for you CVS!

  • RayWest July 13, 2016 (5:25 am)

    I could not be happier to hear that CVS is not coming to that location. I would like see the current occupants (the produce and consignment furniture store) stay put and similar type businesses added. I’m sick of bars/restaurants and big box stores taking over West Seattle. I’m also horrified by TWO light rail stations in West Seattle. They are massively overwhelming for such a small business community.

  • CJ July 13, 2016 (6:40 am)

    If I read this correctly, the main reason for the controversy is that it was less than the 8 story limit that could be put there. Meaning another building to block any view that the residents for the new building going up would have (and more tax revenue generated). 

  • JE July 14, 2016 (12:23 am)

    Although I think there are better uses for that location, I would like a CVS in WS. It’s the only drugstore chain that’s taken a stand and stopped selling cigarettes. I’d take my business there over the existing options, just for that. (Of course, if Bartells, Rite-Aid, or Walgreens were to drop tobacco products, I’d be happy to support them…)

    • AMD July 18, 2016 (10:53 am)

      They may have stopped selling cigarettes, but I don’t think that’s enough to negate their long history of privacy breaches and other unsavory business practices.

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