Goodwill's plans for site stir concerns

A shopping complex that would fill four city blocks and be crowned by 400 apartments is being planned for the site of the Goodwill thrift store south of downtown.

The proposed 10-acre development near Rainier Avenue South and South Dearborn Street would open no earlier than 2009. But its colossal scale already is creating anxiety in "Little Saigon," the busy commercial district nearby. Business owners are concerned that the development would overwhelm the familial and familiar community they have created over the past 20 years.

"It looks to us that this might be a project more suitable for the Southcenter or Alderwood mall areas, not Seattle's urban core," said Quang Nguyen, executive director of the Vietnamese American Economic Development Association.

Pending final approval by Goodwill's board of directors, the nonprofit has agreed to give its land to a developer in exchange for a new retail store, space for its job-training and education programs and administrative offices — all to be included within the multibuilding development.

The new thrift store would be about 30,000 square feet, roughly the same size as the current one, which is the largest in the Goodwill chain. Yet it would take up only about 5 percent of the space available for retail within the new development.

With as much as 600,000 square feet dedicated to retail, the development would be about twice the size of Northgate North, a four-story retail center across the street from Northgate Mall that is anchored by Target and Best Buy.

Darrell Vange of Ravenhurst Development, a partner in the Goodwill redevelopment, would not disclose identities of potential tenants but said the goal is to have 30 to 40, with two large and three medium-sized retailers as anchors.

Some businesses, such as grocery stores, banks and coffeehouses, would be geared toward serving the nearby neighborhoods. Others, though, would be national and regional retail chains with enough cachet to draw customers from as far north as the Lake Washington Ship Canal and as far south as Renton, Vange said.

He said the stores could offer home improvement, home electronics, fashion, books, pet supplies, office supplies or general merchandise. A large health-and-fitness club is another possibility.

Impact on Little Saigon

The "big box" aspect of the proposed development concerns businesses in Little Saigon, which tend to be small-scale and family-run.

"Before [the current merchants] came on scene, this was an unproductive, high-crime area," Nguyen said of the district clustered around 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street. "They created an economically vibrant neighborhood and can be credited for stabilizing it. They expect any developer who comes in to do something beneficial to what already is here."

Nguyen said merchants are worried about traffic, competition, the ethnic character of the neighborhood and displacement by rising rents that could result from the new development.

"Traffic is pretty chaotic around here as it is," Nguyen said. "I can't imagine adding more cars. A lot of our customers and clients come from South Seattle or Beacon Hill, and if the thoroughfares are blocked with traffic, they will think twice about shopping in this area."

Vange said traffic is a legitimate concern that needs to be discussed as the project goes through formal review with the city. But he said the development would benefit Little Saigon by bringing in new residents and new shoppers. Vange said he wants pedestrians to be able to move easily between the development and Little Saigon.

Although the development would have parking structures to accommodate 2,000 vehicles, Vange said he envisions it as pedestrian-oriented and urban in character, with streets running through it. "It's going to fit into the neighborhood very well architecturally," said Vange, who was development manager for Westlake Center in downtown Seattle and has developed about a half-dozen shopping centers from Bellingham to Portland.

"Truly successful shopping centers are not generic," he said. "They incorporate and reflect the character of the surrounding neighborhoods."

Nguyen said the Little Saigon district would welcome additional housing but wants a fair share of the development's 400 units to be affordable and "not luxury condos like in Belltown." Vange said he expects the housing to be rental apartments, with most targeted at middle-income people, in particular downtown workers.

Vange's partner on the project is TRF Pacific, which developed the Whole Foods complex in the Roosevelt neighborhood.

No risk for nonprofit

While Vange would not disclose the value of the Goodwill land, Goodwill officials say they have been exploring options for leveraging that value for several years. The buildings on the site, including the thrift store, date to the 1940s.

"Our facilities are in pretty bad shape and in need of improvement and replacement," said Michael Jurich, chief financial officer. "As a nonprofit, we don't have the economic ability to build new facilities. Our biggest asset is our property."

Goodwill's new retail store would front Dearborn for prime street exposure and provide customers "a dignified shopping experience," Jurich said. "We see that the draw of other retailers will bring more shoppers to our retail operation, which is really great for Goodwill's mission because that's how we fund our job-training and education programs."

Under the deal, Goodwill would own its new building and have a part interest in the land. "We would not be taking on any development risk," Jurich said.

Construction would occur in two phases with Goodwill continuing to operate its existing thrift store while its new one is being built.

The development also would likely affect the nearby Chinatown International District, said Tomio Moriguchi, chair of the district's Business Improvement Area.

"If I had a magic wand, I would not want a grocery store in there," said Moriguchi, CEO of Uwajimaya, which has its flagship grocery in the district. "But having said that, we have to look at the bigger picture. Hopefully, that type of development would bring in quality housing and good people and generate additional consumers who would want some of the products sold up and down King Street."

Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293