New Seasons Market has officially signed on to join developer C.E. John Co. to revive the 16-acre, mixed-use Con-way site in Northwest Portland. The locally owned and operated grocer will convert an old 28,000-s.f. freight warehouse, located at 2170 NW Raleigh St., into a full-service market, featuring thousands of home-grown products and homemade foods, an on-site butcher, organic bakery, wine and wellness departments, and its trademark offering of organic, fresh, seasonal produce, flowers and gifts.
New Seasons Market will be part of the first phase of the Con-way master plan, and will anchor the new Slabtown Marketplace development, which includes 17,500 s.f. of additional shops and restaurants. Construction is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, with a grand opening planned for spring 2015. With this new store, 150 new jobs will be created in the community, in addition to hundreds of construction jobs.
“Announcing this store is rewarding in so many ways,” said Wendy Collie, president and CEO of New Seasons Market. “We’ve been participating in shaping the vision for what this site could bring for the community, and we’re excited about the opportunity to serve all of Northwest Portland’s neighborhoods—old, new and emerging. Soon, many of our customers in Northwest Portland will be able to walk, bike or take the streetcar to do their shopping at New Seasons, instead of driving across the Willamette River or over the West Hills.”
“One of our goals for Slabtown is to create a neighborhood where the community can access places and services within an easy walk or quick pedal,” said Tom DiChiara, VP of development for C.E. John Co. “A grocer will serve as an anchor to this community and we know that New Seasons Market will be an excellent addition to the neighborhood as a proven community favorite and for their ability to bring local, healthy foods to the heart of Slabtown.”
The store, being designed by a joint venture between GBD Architects and Holst Architecture, will showcase the existing wood trusses, large sawtooth skylights and free- span day-lighted space of the old warehouse. The store’s entry will front a 40-foot-wide pedestrian plaza linking NW Raleigh Street to NW Quimby Street. This landscaped plaza will feature a unique boardwalk decking and will be an inviting setting for outdoor seating, merchandising and events.
New Seasons Market currently has 12 stores serving the Portland-Vancouver area. It employs nearly 2,400 people.
