According to The Seattle Times, Washington-based PCC Community Markets, the regional chain of cooperatively owned organic-food stores, is joining the ranks of downtown grocers in a big way with a new location in the under-construction Rainier Square tower.
As in urban centers around the country, downtown Seattle’s residential population is growing, with developers building apartments and condominiums on top of and adjacent to the city’s office towers.
Residents of the downtown core have had few nearby choices for grocery shopping, but that’s been changing gradually over the last decade as stores follow people back into the city.
Another new grocer, H Mart (New Jersey), is on track to open downtown in the second half of this year.
PCC will be the anchor retail tenant on the ground floor of the 58-story Rainier Square project. With a mix of shops, restaurants, offices and apartments, it will be the city’s second-tallest building when it’s completed in mid-2020, according to the schedule of developer Wright Runstad.
In the floors above PCC, more than 3,500 employees of Amazon will toil for the retail and technology giant, which claimed all 722,000 square feet of office space in the project in one of the city’s largest leased deals, announced last fall. Above them, 188 high-end apartments are planned, part of more than 6,700 residential units under construction in the city’s downtown.
The development also includes a 12-story luxury hotel.
For PCC, in the midst of a growth spurt unequaled in the co-op’s 65-year history, the 20,000-square-foot downtown store plants a flag in a high-visibility spot in the city’s core.
“Because of the juxtaposition of tourism, theater, sports, daily workers, residents—it is a unique location,” said PCC CEO Cate Hardy. “We’re from Seattle, and downtown is the heart of Seattle.”
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