Valley Mall owner snares old Costco property

A sporting goods store and a department store are heading to the property formerly housed by Costco.

CenterCal Properties, the Portland-area developer that owns the neighboring Valley Mall, confirmed Tuesday it has the property at 1600 E. Washington Ave. under contract.

The property has been vacant for nearly a year since the Issaquah-based Costco moved to a new site on Valley Mall Boulevard. Costco had been in the previous location since 1990.

Fred Bruning, CenterCal president, said the firm is undergoing due diligence for the property. It hopes to close on the property by the beginning of next year and be ready to demolish the 130,000-square-foot building by next spring.

Costco officials could not be reached for comment.

Both chains, which submitted letters of intent, would be new to the area, Bruning said. In addition, CenterCal has plans to house several restaurants on the property. The new development could be ready by the spring of 2010. “We want to do something nice that will blend with the rest of the center,” Bruning said.

Meanwhile, another department store chain is negotiating with CenterCal to open at the Valley Mall itself.

Bruning said he could not yet name any of potential tenants, but expects to reveal them as leases are signed in the next few months.  

CenterCal has already submitted preliminary plans to Union Gap officials, said Bill Rathbone, the city’s development coordinator.

Rathbone said it’s too early to determine whether there are any planning issues in converting the site for new retail space.

But at this point, he is not expecting any  major issues to arise. “They’re not changing the use of (the property) radically,” he said.

CenterCal, constantly seeking space for tenants who have shown interest in the Yakima Valley, has been looking to purchase the property for more than a year, but Costco initially contracted the property to somebody else.

Earlier this year, Foursquare Properties, a California-based developer, submitted plans to Union Gap officials that named Cabela’s, an outdoor sporting goods chain based in Sidney, Neb., as one of the retailers planned for the property.

In February, Cabela’s officials scaled back on its expansion plans, ending the likelihood that the chain would arrive in the Yakima Valley in the immediate future.