D emolition is underway near the shopping center that houses Johnson’s Home and Garden, as a developer begins a planned facelift and expansion of the property.
Current plans call for a Walgreens and a Grocery Outlet for the shopping center, which is located in the northwest corner of the Four Corners intersection at state Route 169 and Kent-Kangley Road. Other major new tenants have not been announced.
Building and construction permits remain under review for Kite Realty Group’s Four Corner Square, but demolition permits have been approved and the overall site has design approval, says Maple Valley Director of Community Development Ty Peterson. View a PDF of the site plan HERE.
Peterson acknowledges that the shopping center’s current design does not cater to walkers and the “civic center” vision as much as the city hoped it would when city leaders drew up an idealized plan for the northwest quadrant of Four Corners in 2009. Read more about that vision HERE.
Ultimately, the city does not have control over every aspect of a developer’s design, Peterson points out. The city can only require a developer to meet the requirements of the Maple Valley Municipal Code, and Kite Realty has done that.
“The design is not as inspirational, pedestrian-oriented or efficient as the first project approval, but it does meet the minimum requirements of the code,” Peterson says.
In 2009, the city envisioned small shops and restaurants facing a pedestrian-focused street that would run from Kent-Kangley all the way up to the city’s legacy site across from Rock Creek Elementary.
Kite’s site plan does include a north-south road with a sidewalk extending from Kent-Kangley to the northern boundary of the site, but it appears as if that street will run behind the existing shopping center and behind the new Johnson’s building. The main buildings of the site appear to face parking areas, primarily.
The site plan does include access for pedestrians from the Lake Wilderness trail.
Representatives from Kite Realty, which is based in Indianapolis, did not return emails and phone messages left over several weeks requesting comment. Their website does not identify a possible completion date.
According to the site plan, the shopping center would nearly double in size, expanding into what is currently an empty lot behind and north of the existing Johnson’s and south of the Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety building.
Johnson’s will be relocated so that it is north of the existing shopping center strip that houses Papa Murphy’s pizza, with the back of the new store along the Lake Wilderness trail. The store will expand to 35,000 square feet with a 12,000-square-foot greenhouse, according to the current site plan.
It appears that several existing buildings will remain in place, including the strip that houses Papa Murphy’s and the building that houses City Perk Espresso.
It appears that the current Johnson’s building will be demolished with a new Walgreens building sited roughly in its place. The Grocery Outlet will be sited at the north end of a new strip that will include the new Johnson’s as its anchor.
Dairy Queen is undergoing design review for exterior remodeling, says Peterson.
Want to share this story with neighbors? Click the “share” button below to post it to Facebook OR email the link.
Want to receive an alert when a new story appears in the Post? You have three options: Click the “like” button below to receive alerts on your Facebook newsfeed; click the Twitter icon in the sidebar to follow us on Twitter; OR type your email address in the sidebar (to the right of this story) to receive once-a-day digests of new posts.
I agree with the need for Maple Valley to become a pedestrian friendly city. As a mom of a toddler I would love to be able to walk to retail / restaurant amenities. And how about a small children’s museum like Kids Quest in Factoria. Couple that with a Trader Joe’s and Target and we’d never have to leave the city!! Except for nicer restaurants….. But I’ll drive for those.
What we really need is a rec center/pool like the one in Federal Way. The kids have nothing to do. Freds and Grocery Outlet could have funded something like that.
How about an Old Coutry Buffet.
What happened to the BIG BOLD IDEA???
http://www.maplevalleywa.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=3472
This plan is very disappointing and it has nothing to do with what people have visioned for Maple Valley.
http://www.maplevalleywa.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=3473
Just a missed opportunity…:-(
Ty needs to get control over the developers for the Four Corners area. If he needs to change codes then do it. If the proper stores aren’t interested yet then either sweeten the deal or wait a year or two for Fred Meyer to demonstrate that we’ll gladly pay for what we want. Grocery Outlet!? I’ve never been to one and I most likely never will (= lost taxes.) Why should we make bad decisions today and have to go without what we want instead of showing some patients. If we don’t build pedestrian friendly now it’ll never happen. If Maple Valley needs an example to follow simply look a little north.
The city council and developer should work in tandem to cater to the majority of the citizens of Maple Valley. The average income of the residents of this city is close to six figures.Why are they not seeking businesses that would keep money in Maple Valley instead of being spent in places such as Issaquah. How many nail salons, pizzerias, coffee shops, pharmacies and banks does one small city need? Maple Valley has so much potential but no progressive thinkers on the city council. Seems all they are content with is filling empty land with buildings.
I completely agree. When I first heard of this plan, I wondered who they were building these stores for.
My thoughts exactly! I wouldn’t be surprised to see another Mexican restaurant in there somewhere since we already have three in the town. I just got back from the new Fred Meyer and it was very busy. I can’t say that a Grocery Outlet will have the same kind of impact on this city.
I agree, my wife and I are members of PCC and do the weekly drive north to do our shopping. Frankly, it’s a pain in the you know what. Couple that with the cost of gas today and it makes us wish we had better options locally.
When I saw a Grocery Outlet might be built here, I choked!
Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods would be great, however, PCC is locally owned.
I know there are residents that would be shop and support these kinds of grocers.
I like the idea of a bigger Johnson’s as again, this will make it easier to spend our money in town and not have to go to Covington, etc.
Maple Valley does have great potential! Let’s not muck it up with fast food nation and more poor grocery options!
My wife and I just moved here from Seattle. We are in our mid-20′s and just bought a house. We consistently talk about how we miss having something like Whole Foods, PCC, Trader Joe’s, Madison Market, etc. We love Maple Valley but are dismayed by some of the planned development.
Plus grocery outlet? wtf.
I agree, PCC is great and another great option would be Central Market. All have small footprints and would be very busy.
I agree with Monica!! I would love to see a Trader Joes either there or across the street at the new Maple Valley Town Square!!
Grocery Outlet I am not a fan of, but Walgreens all the way!
Walgreens? Really? So there is a pharmacy in Safeway, in the new Fred Meyers, Bartells down the way and two convenience stores in 4 corners. We need a Walgreens?
Top it all off with not being pedestrian friendly.
So sad.
Perhaps the Maple Valley municipal code needs to be updated so the minimum requirements for future building are better.
No grocery outlet!!!!! Trader Joes is a much better choice and a Pagliaccis.
I 2nd the Pagliaccis!