January 6, 1999

Eckerd Store Proposed for
Watson's Market Site

By Timothy J. Baker

THE SEMBLER CO. wants to redevelop the site of Watson's market with a new Eckerd pharmacy, which would entail tearing down several existing buildings, and also closing the 4th Street end of the alley between 8th and 9th Avenues.

A representative of Sembler, Bill Johnson, outlined the company's plans at the December meeting of the NSNA Board of Directors.

The board asked and Mr. Johnson agreed to present the plans to the full membership of the NSNA at the general membership meeting in March. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson will meet with the association's Neighborhood Design Review committee to discuss the issues that are likely to surround the project.

As presented, the plan would face numerous regulatory hurdles. Among them:

• At least some of the residential property that the project would take in would have to be rezoned for commercial use.
• The North Shore Neighborhood Plan allows commercial property, including parking and accessory uses, to extend no more than 150 feet back from 4th Street N. This project would go back 242 feet.
• The Neighborhood Design Review (NDR) ordinance requires projects to be designed to fit in with the neighborhood in terms of both scale and design. This project would be considerably larger than anything nearby, and is designed in a generic highway commercial style.
• The proposal situates the building so that the front faces 9th Avenue N, rather than 4th Street, which may also violate the NDR rules.
• The plan shows entrances to the pharmacy on 4th Street N, 8th Avenue N and 9th Avenue N. No studies have been done of how this would affect traffic flow or traffic safety at an already difficult intersection.
• About one-half block of the alley between 8th and 9th Avenues would have to be vacated. The alley would dogleg north and empty onto 9th Avenue N. Again, no study has been done to show how changing the alley would affect traffic flow and safety.

Mr. Johnson said his company was aware of these problems and expected that it could take up to a year to work through the entire process.

Eckerd already operates a store in the Northeast Shopping Center, about 30 blocks from the Watson's site. Mr. Johnson said that that store is so busy that it can't adequately serve its customer base, which is one of the reasons an additional location is being sought. He estimated that the Northeast location does $8.5 to $9 million of business a year.

As explained by Mr. Johnson, the Sembler Co. would actually develop the site and would own the building, which would be leased to Eckerd.

The new store is envisioned to be a virtual twin of the Eckerd store at 4th Street and 54th Avenue N. That location, though, is oriented with its narrow front towards 4th Street and its mostly blank side wall towards 54th.

That orientation would be reversed at the Watson's site, with the narrow front to 9th Avenue N and the long side to 4th Street.

Preliminary plans for the Watson's site show two drive-through windows on the east side of the building, where customers could make purchases without leaving their cars. A landscaped area, a retention pond and a concrete-block wall would separate the drive-through lanes from the adjacent residential neighborhood.

Parking for 56 cars would be situated along 4th Street and 9th Avenue sides of the building.

Overall, the site would encompass 58,500 square feet, about four times the area of the Watson's property. The Eckerd building would take up 11,200 square feet.

Mr. Johnson said that Sembler has options to purchase all the property needed for the project, contingent on Sembler obtaining all the necessary approvals from the city.

To make way for the project, three homes and an apartment building would have to be torn down, in addition to Watson's.

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