The Rainier Valley Post has learned that – after six months of community discussion that started right here – the Othello neighborhood can finally look forward to a much-needed remodel of the sub-standard Safeway store at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and South Othello Street, including $3 million in improvements such as brand new bakery, wine, meat, seafood and produce sections, wood floors, organics, landscaping and more.
“It will look really good compared to what’s there now,” said Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) president Jenna Walden. “You won’t even recognize it!”
The fast-tracked project is due to begin in January 2010 and wrap-up just three months later in April, and marks a reversal of the company’s former approach, which seemed to involve letting the store rot – literally – right before the eyes of a disappointed and increasingly irritated community.
The announcement comes less than a month after Seattle-based Othello Partners announced immediate plans to move forward in breaking ground on The Station at Othello Park, 420,000-square-foot mixed-use project across the street from said Safeway. Both properties sit adjacent to the Othello Station on Sound Transit’s new Link Light Rail line, which opens for service this Sat., July 18.
South-End Safeway Stores:
- Othello (3900 South Othello Street)
- Rainier Beach (9262 Rainier Avenue South)
- Genesee (3820 Rainier Avenue South)
Photo/do communications, inc.
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{ 33 comments }
Wow! Are they seriously going to do something with that place?
This is great news! I wonder if this means we’ll get fresh vegetables?
Nice! I’d rather hop the rail to shop at a new Othello Safeway than go the other way to the Mt. Baker QFC.
I keep forgetting that the Rainier Safeway has mice.
Hope the remodel includes installing bullet-proof glass.
The prospect of being able to walk to get fresh fruits and veggies, dairy that is not expired, etc. is SO exciting! Maybe they’ll replace the carts with those ones that lock when you reach the edge of the parking lot? That would be AWESOME!
this is the best news i’ve heard all week! so happy. maybe a little sad to be losing our ghetto safeway. not that sad though.
while I am excited that Safeway is investing in our community–and let me preface this by saying that I may be misreading the post–a remodel of a completely auto-oriented safeway that does little, if anything, to revitalize the corner of MLK and Othello is not, to my mind, an acceptable outcome.
we should be asking for more. That intersection (Othello and MLK) is critical to establishing how the entire area will develop. Housing above the safeway, for example, is a necessity. MLK needs a building edge of a size and scale that it helps to mitigate the massive expanse of concrete from the vehicular and rail traffic.
Moving the safeway out to the MLK corner, undergrounding the parking (and removing parking minimums), and providing housing on top are what we need to make a community hub. This is good, not great. I think the recent experience in Pinehurst and Queen Anne shows that Safeway is willing to work with the community to help achieve these goals and make a great project come to life. I hope that we can have that same kind of success in the South end as they have in the north.
To bad they aren’t leaving a letting a good grocery store come in. If there was a TJs or even a Top Foods, I might actually have a reason to go to the New Holly neighborhood. As it is, I’ll have 3 mediocre Safways equidistant from my house. Blech.
Alright debbie-downers, its not the brand-new idealistic store that is architecturally different and denser. So what? Remember the practicalities here:
1) what ‘Good, but we should ask for great’ is aiming for, requires considerable more capital, the absence of that store for years while it is demolished and under construction and the permitting and design process could take years as well. Underground parking? Why don’t you add $50/sf more for concrete and asphalt on the budget in addition to the rebuilding of the store.
2) how is #1 going to happen in a recession?
3) @ graham st, how would a neighborhood riddled with crime and the reality of a store leaving a neighborhood who would also deed-restrict the property provide an opening for and attract a higher-end grocer to come into the neighborhood and invest millions of dollars?
This proposal works for the neighborhood, users of the store and Safeway. I’m sorry you want “THE BEST” RIGHT NOW. But be realistic. These things happen over time and that is what redevelopment is about. Getting a light rail station doesn’t mean we are going to look like Europe NOW.
Amen,
I’d also like to put my paws together for the RVP. I am convinced in my own little bubble of a world that the chatter going on here had something to do with the sudden turnabout in plans for this location. It’s a ground swell…or was it an earthquake. Whatever, it worked. Pat on the back, RVP. Thanks for giving us a place to bitch and be heard, evidently.
A lot of work went into getting corporate america to listen – I’m not sure it helped but it definitely didn’t hurt.
SSSL
They even did a little story on KING 5 about it.
I’m really excited about this great news. The work of the RVP, as well as members of OSCAT (Othello Station Community Advisory Team) and many neighbors who contacted Safeway as well as the media clearly had an impact here – as acknolwedged by Safeway.
I think we need to let Safeway know we appreciate what they plan to do. We should also let them know that we want to continue the dialogue we have begun so that we can discuss how this remodel will be accomplished in accord with the neighborhood design guidelines and continue the creation of a great, pedestrian-friendly corner. Great start – and we need to keep at it!
“We should also let them know that we want to continue the dialogue we have begun so that we can discuss how this remodel will be accomplished in accord with the neighborhood design guidelines and continue the creation of a great, pedestrian-friendly corner. ”
You better hurry, it sounds like they already have a budget and time frame.
Great going Othello Neighborhood Association!!!! Way to be proactive and reach out to Safeway!!!
SSSL
I wonder if this is a reponse to Amazon Fresh expanding their delivery area to the neighborhood last month. We’ve shifted most of our grocery dollars since.
After years of community frustration with Safeway, this is welcome news in one way, but not in another. It’s good that they want to stay here instead of selling out and locking out all other groceries by deed restriction. But it’s bad if it’s just a remodel.
We need transit oriented development, not an ugly parking lot on the corner of MLK and Othello. It should be similar to what Othello Partners is doing, but with the grocery on the ground floor, and parking out back and under ground.
Well, please let us all donate a few dollars to thank the RVP.com for facilitating our discussions – Amber you make a difference!
Mr. Burkhart, Is it possible Safeway and many community members don’t share your vision? I’m not taking a position, just asking a question?
Safeway has been a fantastic community partner over the last 3 years and they have helped change the character of several neighborhoods throughout Seattle. They worked with the Seattle Schools, the Safer Streets for South Seattle Project ( sub-team of the SE Crime Prevention Council), and the Lake Washington appartments to improve the environment to deter crime. Specifically, they kept the area clean with consistent garbage pickups, installed security cameras, invested in a multi-million dollar remodel, partnered with the liquor control board to eliminate panhandling and hired security. The Rainier Beach Safeway is 1000x’s better than it was 4 years ago, and it’s because they were willing to work with the community.
Perhaps you could get actively involved and encourage them to do underground parking like they do at the Whole Foods in North Seattle? Who wants to carry paper bags of groceries in the rain? I’d suggest you reach out to the Othello Neighborhood Association who is actively making a difference within the community and has engaged in very productive dialog.
Unfortunately my sense is that you want everyone to ride bikes, live in cheaply built dense housing, give up cars, and embrace the push to make us all be similar. In SE Seattle we are not a homogenous society. We are diverse. Trying to force everyone into the same cookie cutter mold won’t work. If you like that type of vision, you might try moving to the North End of Mercer Island where they have functioning bus routes, concentrated housing, and plenty of stores, parks, and bike paths within easy reach……not to mention they will have an easy to use Light Rail system with park and rides. You also probably don’t need to lock your doors and put bars on the windows. If you decide to move over there, I’ll say hello as i frequently like to ride my bike across and around the island……..another benefit – people are so worried about their cars they take special care to avoid bicyclists.
Anyway, just a thought,
SSSL
Wow, SSSL. Quite the response. Although I’m sure that you and Mr. Burkhart don’t agree on all things, I’m a little confused about your angry response on this. Dick suggested putting parking underground, and you seem to think that’s a good idea. I think that most people would agree that if the parking lot is left as-is (who knows if that’s the plan), it’s still going to be an ugly spot (even if the store is really nice).
I’m so happy that Safeway is finally agreeing to keep that store open and invest in it. We should definitely show our appreciation. But we’ve come to a point where the community may have such low expectations, and may be so beaten down, that they’ll take any improvements. If the project is being fast-tracked, it’ll be even more important for us to be invested in the remaining outreach and design review process.
Thank you to Daphne, Jenna, Amber, and all of the members of the community (OSCAT, ONA, etc), for your work in bringing this issue to the forefront.
@ Gidge……maybe it was a little over the top, but it’s frustrating that we have to fight for such a small victory and then when we get one someone is critical of its’ success. Had not ONA stepped up to the plate, this project might not have gotten off the ground.
And, I probably read to far into Mr. Burkhart’s comment about transit oriented density. Cheap, highly concentrated projects, are ruining the character of SE Seattle. I am hoping that isn’t what he intended by the comment but if so, that’s the way I feel.
SSSL
SSSL said “Unfortunately my sense is that you want everyone to ride bikes, live in cheaply built dense housing, give up cars, and embrace the push to make us all be similar.”
and also said:
“Cheap, highly concentrated projects, are ruining the character of SE Seattle. ”
These remarks seem right on the money. We don’t want our end of town to be the dumping zone for high density. There’s still lots of empty country in the United States… We don’t want Seward Park to end up being another Central Park with crowded high rises around it. Keep Seattle nice, keep it low density, keep it low-rise, and keep the single family zoned neighborhoods single family zoned. One Mayor can create a huge mess in a short 4 years. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, as they say.
As far as Safeway goes, thanks to Safeway for working with the community and keeping their store here. How many supermarkets have we seen come and go at the Rainier and Henderson location? Let’s see, there was Lucky’s, Big Bear, Stock Market, QFC…
Safeway has been an incredibly stable presence in the Rainier Valley. They must be doing something right.
“Cheap, highly concentrated projects, are ruining the character of SE Seattle”
I’m so glad that a real store , Safeway, is going to clean up; rather than a TJ pipedream. They’re not a grocery store.
But cheap, highly concentrated projects are the only thing that’s going to revitalize this neighborhood. Although our unique shops are cute, they won’t bring in the kind orf interest that would get us on the map.
Many people don’t want us on the map, and they may win. Probably will win. You don’t want us on the map, but just why is a question that the future will have to ask.
And they will. Why?
“You don’t want us on the map, but just why is a question that the future will have to ask.”
It really won’t have wait for the future.
You’re part of the Valley’s past, and so connected to it that you can’t possibly see the future. But the future is coming at you like a train.
I don’t blame you for fighting it, but that’s a futile fight.
I’m not part of that rolling future, but I can see it. And I’d love to hang out with you and watch it happen. You’re a part of history that shouldn’t be wasted. We can’t replace it.
@ Brian, it’s too bad Seattle doesn’t have Term Limits………I’m hoping Mallahan will take off soon.
@ Drunk Again ……. you really should stick to Green Tea & limit the IPA’s
Having said that, I think you’re right. Why would University Village, West Seattle, or any other neighborhood want our community to do well. If we did, we’d draw people from their communities to ours. Right now there are multiple $1000′s, probably $10s of thousands of dollars being spent in West Seattle, Rention, North Seattle, and the East Side on commodities like basic groceries……..we don’t have the right stores now, but hopefully Safeway will prosper and other vendors will want to follow suit.
SSSL
You wont catch me on the train to nowhere!!! Once it heads to the eastside it might be worthwhile to take because you can drive to Mercer Island, park in their AWESOME park and rides, and head over to Redmond, Microsoft, Bellevue Square or some other destination area where they have stores. It’s hard to make the MLK corridor a destination area w/o Park and Rides & ample ways to navigate the streets with cars…….it’s just too much of a hassle.
Most everyone I talk to nowadays is anti-Nickels and it appears people are more willing to work together. The community associations are really stepping up to the plate (ONA, Rainier Beach, Lakewood Seward Park, Mt. Baker, etc.) are finally starting to unite against the bad policies that are impacting SE Seattle. I hope in 10 years it isn’t wall to wall high-density, subsidized housing projects w/o the right infrastructure.
Have a good night and I’ll see you when I get back from California.
By the way, I figured out it was you by the title…….by the way, Tequila is a much better way to go – beer is bad for the body.
SSSL
As someone who lives within a 1/2 mile of a station, I’m so thankful that we don’t have park & rides coming in to our neighborhood. I’ve spent some time near the Kent Park & Ride, and it is a depressing wasteland, with nothing but cars filled with people who want to get out of the area. But I’m fully aware I’m never going to agree wtih SSSL about the light rail.
I work downtown, and commute by bus because (a) I can’t afford to drive and park, (b) I hate getting stuck in traffic, and (c) it’s just as fast as driving and parking, and I can feel good about making the right choice. But I don’t love the bus, and have long missed the metro trains of DC. On the way home tonight, I realized that I will get to take the light rail in to work from now on, and was really excited about the change.
I know that there are people who read RVP who are excited about the opening. Don’t let SSSL get you down–have fun this weekend, and enjoy the ride.
@ Gidge – I never said I don’t like light rail – in fact I voted for it and the monorail every time they appeared on the ballot. I only suggest SE Seattle & Beacon Hill got the shaft on the design & functionality that could have been possible. a.) it should have been above or below ground b.) there should be some well designed park n rides c.) they should have had a better plan for taking riders by shuttle/bus to the stations. d.) They shouldn’t assume people in SE Seattle want to give up their cars or can’t afford them – yes, I had a city employee tell me they didn’t want park n rides because they didn’t think SE residents could afford them and they were building the subway for density and those who were economically challenged.
Gidge, are you certain we wouldn’t ever agree? I’m not so sure. If we spoke in person we’d find a common middle ground. It’s here and we have to make the most of it, but we should also try to influence change quickly otherwise the city, sound transit, the county, and the state will continue to take advantage of the community.
On Kent’s park & ride – it is dreary…..but we could have had an under-ground park n ride with a park on top. Or, what about a park n ride with shuttle service instead of some of the abandon properties like the pancake house? A few plantings and some artwork can make a parking lot look much better than a gargage/graffiti littered abandoned building.
When the rail goes East I hope they have a station at I-90 and Rainier so I can use it. Until then, not only does it fail to meet my needs on a basic level – even for a ride to the airport but it also messes up the way I drive within the community.
SSSL
@22
Get with the times. You live in a growing city that will probably double in population in the next 20 years. Density is here to stay. Expect massive changes with the arrival of light rail. Some foolishly call it a rail to nowhere, but people who think know it will eventually be a web connecting the entire region. Eventually our little Rainier Valley is going to be a commuter hub.
I’m not trying to be a jerk, but you should seriously think about relocating because you are definitely not going to like the changes that are coming….
Great news, but still no pharmacy.
Safeway’s comment form is at:
http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Comments#iframetop
I think a pharmacy is an essential feature of a complete neighborhood grocery store. If you agree, please send a comment ASAP.
Thanks!
@29
I’ve seen plenty of changes in Seattle during my life and have had plenty of opportunities to relocate. I’m still here! One of the best changes I’ve seen was the conversion of Kubota Gardens into one of the city’s most beautiful parks. Note that the original plan for Kubota Gardens was to devleop it into 400 units of condominiums. The city is fortunate that the concerned citizens of the surrounding neighborhood fought (busloads of upset residents going to city hall) this original proposal to rezone part of South Seattle. Will-nilly, unbridled growth can have odd and disasterous consquences. As mentioned above, a lot of damage can be done in a short four year term, and on the flip side, much good can be done as well.
The population may double in twenty years. Boeing may pack up and leave in twenty years. Their corporate office has already relocated to Chicago. Microsoft could set up shop in India. Who knows what the future holds? My hope is that whatever happens, we retain a beautiful city that is a great place for kids to grow up in, which has plenty of space for them in which to play and, of course, nice grocery stores for adults to buy food for their families. I wouldn’t want to wish on the future generations any less of an experience and any less of a city than what I had as a child.
Thank you Ray & Jenna – Keep on calling out what needs to be fixed in South Seattle. They do not pay any more taxes in other parts of the city yet in some key aspects they have a better quality of life…keep the pressure on!
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