Interbay Whole Foods may be put on hold

Posted by Jim Reppond

Another repercussion of the slowing national economy might be the delay or cancellation of the newly proposed Whole Foods on Interbay between Magnolia and Queen Anne. The Seattle PI reported that Whole Foods third-quarter net income dropped more than 30 percent because of costs associated acquisitions and the tough economy.

This has caused them to announce cost cutting measures including scaling back opening of new stores next year. It’s still unclear if this will affect the two new local stores slated to open on Interbay and in West Seattle, but it could. While there are lots of stores in California and Florida in the development stage that might get cut, there are only two stores planned for opening for Washington.

This would definitely be a blow to the neighborhood’s plans to expand the residential development of the area. Part of the reason the city has been considering allowing new homes in this area is the expansion of retail services availability. Whole Foods was the cornerstone part of that argument.

Property owners in both Magnolia and Queen Anne were hoping that the addition of Whole Foods and other smaller retail shops and restaurants could help turn this drab and mostly unused area into a thriving green walking neighborhood. City Hall seemed to be dragging their feet on the rezoning of this area to allow taller construction. The planned development already received a blow from the defeat of the monorail a few years ago. The nearby transit station would have created great public access to the area. Let’s hope Whole Foods doesn’t use these reasons to designate this as one of the stores not to open.