Broadway Qfc Might Expand -- Apartment Atop Store Included In Proposal

Plans are in the works to renovate and expand a popular QFC store on Seattle's Capitol Hill to include a 145-unit apartment complex on top of the building.

If the deal goes through, the store could be closed for up to 18 months starting late this year or in early 2000.

Preliminary plans call for the store, 523 Broadway E., to become part of a mixed-use, multilevel development.

Seattle real-estate developer Bob Burkheimer, who owns that site and several other commercial properties in the area, said the project is now in the design stages.

"They (QFC officials) need a bigger store," he said. "We want to make it more street friendly."

The existing store has 21,000 square feet of space. The remodeled location would have 33,000 square feet, increasing the store's size by more than 30 percent. It's unclear how many floors the project would eventually be.

Even with the expansion, the store would be considerably smaller than the QFC at the nearby Harvard Market, a 45,000-square-foot store on East Pike Street between Broadway and Harvard Avenue. That store opened two years ago amid speculation it would siphon business away from the Broadway East location.

Burkheimer said that QFC's lease would have to be renegotiated before redevelopment could begin. Early talks about the project have been positive, Burkheimer said.

Nonetheless, it remains unclear how much of QFC's decision-making will be done locally. Acquired early last year by Fred Meyer of Portland, QFC was also part of the package that Cincinnati-based industry giant Kroger acquired in its megamerger with Fred Meyer.

QFC spokeswoman Jane Thomas declined comment on the plans, saying only that the company plans to continue doing business at the Broadway East location.

While Burkheimer said it's too early to tell how long the store might have to close, he noted that similar commercial renovations have taken up to a year and a half.

Burkheimer said he's optimistic that a deal will be worked out.

"We've had a 25-year relationship with (QFC)," Burkheimer said. "I presume we'll be able to come to terms."

Robert Marshall Wells' phone message number is 206-464-2412. His e-mail address is: rwells@seattletimes.com