Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 5, May 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Costco scraps proposed North Seattle store

By JAMES BUSH and CLAYTON PARK

Costco Wholesale Corp. has dropped its plans to build a 144,000-square-foot membership warehouse store at Aurora Avenue North and North 125th Street.

In a March 31 e-mail to David Nurney, chairman of the Haller Lake Community Club's Costco project committee, Costco real estate director Peter Kahn announced the decision, adding that "it was a pleasure to spend time in your community and I appreciate everyone's gracious behavior under what I know was a difficult situation for you all."

Scott Kemp, the Seattle Department of Planning and Development staffer supervising the Costco application, says he was notified via voice mail that Costco was not going forward with the project. Company officials cancelled a scheduled meeting to work on traffic issues related to the project.

Kemp says the Issaquah-based company has not formally requested in writing that its master-use permit application be canceled, but adds that the City routinely initiates the cancellation process for applications which have sat idle for a long period of time.

Kahn confirmed that Costco had withdrawn its proposed North Seattle store, but declined to discuss why it was doing so. He referred further inquiries to Costco co-founder/chairman Jeffrey Brotman, who was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Haller Lake resident Rick Barrett, another member of the Costco review committee, notes that neighborhood residents concerned about Costco's potential traffic impacts are waiting to see what might next be proposed for the site, which is currently occupied by Lincoln Towing. "Now we're worrying about what's next," he says.