Fred Meyer Plans Lake City Superstore -- 5-Acre Site Would Include Annoying Vacant Lot

Across the street from her Lake City home, Darlene Menane sees what used to be a painful sight.

An overgrown lot. A burned out building. But, she thinks, it's starting to look better.

About a year ago, Menane gathered signatures to keep an apartment complex with several hundred units from being built. She feared the complex - with few parking spaces - would further congest her Lake City neighborhood struggling to absorb more and more residents.

Then last summer the site became home for a group of transients living amid the tall grass and overgrown blackberry bushes, drinking, sleeping and playing loud music. "We thought things were getting worse," Menane said.

But her view of that site changed when Fred Meyer recently announced plans to demolish its two buildings in Lake City, near the intersection of Northeast 130th Street and Lake City Way Northeast and build a superstore over five acres of land, including that vacant lot and burned-out building.

Rather than Fred Meyer simply imposing its plans upon the residents, however, store representatives met with community groups several times to create a plan that now has neighbors supporting the proposed store.

"Proper land use can be well received by the community when the community is consulted and is part of the process," Menane said.

For years, Fred Meyer has looked for ways of improving its Lake City store, a steady revenue maker that was housed in two separate

buildings across the street from each other. Now, the company sees its store as a key area of growth.

Fred Meyer, planning to spend $18 million on its new superstore, is still waiting for city permits to build. The Portland-based retailer plans to include more departments, including groceries on its new site.

"We're just trying to upgrade the entire site," said company spokesman Rob Boley. "We think it's a good store for us and a good market around the store. It's going to help keep customers shopping in the local area rather than driving elsewhere to do their shopping."

At meetings with community groups, Fred Meyer listened to their concerns over rowdiness and congestion.

Residents asked for adequate lighting in the parking lot; for entrance gates so to discourage teenagers from hanging out in parked cars; for sidewalks so handicapped people could get to the store easier.

The retailer came back with plans that included what residents asked for, bringing with them traffic engineers, drawings and answered resident's questions.

"They had a very open process with more information than anyone would want or need," said John Mullally, president of the Lake City/Northeast Seattle Chamber of Commerce. "It was a breath of fresh air for the community groups."

Next door to the proposed site is Dave Stetner, who owns an auto-body shop.

By coincidence, he planned to remodel his shop several months ago but thinks the odds of reaping new customers are raised because of large numbers that will be attracted to the superstore.

"I'll get more people to draw from," said Stetner, who's a board member of the chamber. "I believe it will enhance the Lake City area. By building a superstore and offering this expansion to the area is good for our community. We don't have much in the line of Fred Meyer-type stores."

As a result of planning, the chain store has a chance to build upon a relationship forged with its neighbors.

"This is as good as we could expect," Menane said. "They had a good plan. It seemed like they would upgrade the neighborhood and take care of some of the problems of the vacant lot. I think it will be an asset to the neighborhood."