No grocery store for Fife – yet

By Meghan Erkkinen

The Signal
merkkinen@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: August 14, 2008

Fife won’t have a grocery store anytime soon.

Earlier this summer, the city put a parcel of land on the corner of 70th

Avenue and 20th Street up for bid to whoever would build a grocery store on the site. As of the July 18 deadline, the city received no bids.

“It goes without saying that we were all a little disappointed,” said Mayor Barry Johnson. “We’re just trying to regroup and figure out what to do next.”

Bidding on the 3.97-acre site began at $1.9 million. In a resolution to put the land up for sale, the city council specified that the developer must build a store of at least 20,000 square feet that includes produce, meat and seafood, deli, dairy, bakery and frozen foods sections.

The council has long sought ways to attract grocery stores to the city. As changes begin to occur along 20th Street, the city staff and council felt there was an opening to begin soliciting grocery entrepreneurs.

“I had talked to several grocery store operators who had expressed an interest,” said City Manager Steve Worthington. “They each saw it had excellent potential for them.”

The absence of bids may be due to a variety of factors, among them the general economic leveling and the shift in the credit market.

“From everything we’ve seen, people are thinking long and hard before making financial decisions,” Worthington said. “I think we’re caught up in the issue now.”

The council members are frustrated by the situation, but they have not given up on the possibility of a grocery store, according to Johnson.

“Stay tuned,” he said. “I think as our development along 20th Street takes place” the city will see more interest from private developers.

The city might also reevaluate the conditions of the sale and the minimum purchase price to see if there is a way to make it more attractive to grocery store operators. Or, the city might offer the site for sale later if economic condtions change.

“We’re still hopeful to have a grocery store operation,” Worthington said. “This site might still well be a grocery store yet.”

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