Quote:
Originally Posted by DMH
You mentioned Safeway on NE Broadway...
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Yeah, I'm a big believer in how a grocery store can be an anchor for a neighborhood.
I think back to the old Safeway downtown, before the "new" one was built (holy cow! The "new" Safeway opened 20 years ago!). 30 years ago, that whole area around SW 10th & Jefferson and beyond was so ripe for change. The city managed to encourage the sale and redevelopment of the blocks on both sides of Jefferson between 10th & 11th, which is how the new Safeway & Museum Place apartments above it were built on one block, and when Safeway moved across the street, Eliot Tower, The St. Francis apartments and a small office building were built on the double block on the other side of Jefferson.
If I'm not mistaken, that was the catalyst for a huge amount of development in the area that began even before the new Safeway was built.
I see the Lloyd Center area as a super-jumbo version of that, except there's no need to move the grocery store this time.
My god, when that bunker of a mall comes down, the change for the entire area will be massive. Almost unimaginably huge... and wonderful. Kind of like walking through the Pearl in 1990, trying to imagine what it would be 30 years later... just... wow. The potential here is bigger than huge, and it will spill out in all possible directions. Look at all of the dead retail over there now, like where Pier 1 used to be and lots of what's around it. There's so much potential.
It's exciting to think about.