Sonja Haller

The Republic | azcentral.com

Tempe City Council approved agreement to bring Whole Foods to Tempe

Whole Foods is set to become the first grocery store in 15 years to locate within walking or biking distance of Arizona State University and downtown Tempe.

A development called the Foundry would be a nine-story building that includes plans for a 41,000-square-foot Whole Foods. A three-level parking garage would be above the store with a clubhouse and 290 apartments on the upper five levels.

The Tempe City Council in a 7-0 vote June 23 authorized the mayor to proceed with a development agreement with Denver-based Forum Real Estate Group. The agreement calls for construction of a major grocery store at the long-vacant lot at University Drive and Ash Avenue that many Tempe residents remember as the site of the closed Gentle Strength Cooperation store.

A Whole Foods official confirmed the development of design plans at that location with an opening date of spring 2018.

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The overall project plans call for roll-up doors along University Drive for outdoor dining on both the ground floor and a mezzanine level.

“We want this to feel soulful, authentic, sophisticated, fun and inclusive,” said Darin Sender, an attorney representing the developer, during a public hearing.

Councilman Kolby Granville said he doesn't think Whole Foods is a good fit in that location, but that businesses — more than council members — know what will be successful at a particular spot.

Councilwoman Lauren Kuby lauded the proposal and said, "We're in a food desert in north Tempe. We need a supermarket."

Members of the public who spoke during the first and second hearings for the project said downtown needs a large grocery store and they have waited for more than a decade and a half. Stabler’s Market at University Drive and Mill Avenue closed in 2000.

The cooperative at the planned Whole Foods site closed a few years later. A small store carrying local products such as organic produce and specialty items called Tempe Farmers Market opened in 2009.

But not everyone agreed that a Whole Foods should be the area's major grocery store, citing the expense of the groceries or the grocery company's business practices.

Karyn Gitlis, a representative of the Maple Ash Neighborhood Association, said although she liked many aspects of the development she is concerned about traffic effects on surrounding neighborhoods. The developer offered $15,000 to five neighborhoods within a quarter-mile of the project, $5,000 of which would go for a public art installation and $10,000 for maintenance of traffic-calming devices, Gitlis said.

The Maple Ash Neighborhood Association approved the offer, Gitlis told council members, with the reservation that the offer is "too small and too dispersed with multiple neighborhoods."

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