SEQUIM — The search has begun for a new anchor tenant for the proposed Bell Farm Center shopping center after Fred Meyer pulled out of the development this week.
“I think the population will continue to grow; I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” said Mark Burrowes of Sequim, who owns the land slated for the 30-acre shopping complex.
“The market is right at the borderline, but it won’t be for long. It’s just a matter of who gets here first,” he said, noting the several retail developments building in or planned for the Sequim area.
Those developments include a Wal-Mart that opened last month on West Washington Street; Sequim Village Marketplace, a 42-acre project that will open its first phase with a Home Depot home improvement warehouse this winter; and River Bend Retail Center, a 32,000-square-foot outdoor shopping plaza slated for a site at West Washington Street and River Road.
The Bell Farm Center development would be built east of South Sequim Avenue between East Washington and East Hammond streets.
First phase next year
The first phase was supposed to include the Fred Meyer store, a gas station and unspecified number of restaurants, to be completed next year.
A second phase, planned for 2008, would expand the site into a village-themed center with more retail stores and public common areas for community events.
But the project is “in a holding pattern” until Bell Farm gets a new anchor tenant, Burrowes said.
