WinCo to try again, this time in Union Gap

A Boise, Idaho, grocery store chain is giving the Yakima Valley market another try.

Representatives of WinCo Foods attended a public hearing Tuesday for Union Gap Promenade, a proposed retail development.

The hearing was part of an application for White-Leasure Development Co. of Boise for a rezone and site plan approval for 30 acres along Longfibre Road between Valley Mall Boulevard and Alder Street, east of the Costco site. The property is owned by Sutherland Business Park LLC.

During the hearing, Heather Burgess, an attorney for Eisenhower & Carlson of Tacoma who also represents WinCo Foods, led a presentation on behalf of White-Leasure and indicated that her client was a proposed anchor tenant for the center, in the 83,000-square-foot building planned for the development's first phase.

In 2002, WinCo purchased the former Country Drive-In and adjoining property on Nob Hill Boulevard between 42nd and 44th avenues for more than $2.5 million for a 79,000-square-foot store. It put the property up for sale in 2003, after the company re-evaluated its development plans in wake of what was then a proposed Walmart on 64th Avenue and Nob Hill Boulevard.

In 2008, WinCo sold the property for $2.96 million to Thompson Development, which converted the space into a new dental facility.

Jim White, president of White-Leasure Development Co., said the company has worked with WinCo for 15 years and that WinCo has stores in progress at its other developments.

"They're in expansion mode," he said. "They've been very successful in this economy."

WinCo recently opened a new distribution center in Boise in September and plan to increase its locations by 25 percent by 2011, according to recent media reports.

However, WinCo officials were reluctant to provide more details, especially with the project still in the planning process.

“We’re an interested tenant,” said Ty Morrison, a WinCo project manager, said after the hearing. “That’s all we can say at this point.”

Morrison referred additional questions to Mike Read, a vice president at WinCo’s corporate office. Read could not be reached for further comment.

No one spoke for or against the project, though there was several other parties in attendance, including a representative from neighboring Costco, which is in talks with White-Leasure about mitigating traffic issues that may arrive from the new development.

Union Gap Hearing Examiner Gary Cuillier indicated that he planned on recommending approval to the Union Gap City Council, which will make the final decision on the project. Cuillier has 10 business days to make a recommendation.

White seemed confident that city officials will approve the project at its new site.

Nearly a year ago, White-Leasure received approval to rezone 45 acres along the north side of Valley Mall Boulevard for development.

The new site is smaller, making it easier to fill it with tenants, White said.

"We like the synergy of being (next to) Costco," he said.