Whole Foods Market is coming to LoDo.

The grocer, based in Austin, Texas, announced Wednesday that it will open a store at 17th and Wewatta streets, near the newly redeveloped Denver Union Station.

The store is expected to open in 2017.

For years, downtown Denver residents have clamored for a full-size grocery store. Part of that wish was fulfilled with a King Soopers under construction at 20th Street and Chestnut Place in the Central Platte Valley.

But hopes also had focused on attracting a Whole Foods.

The grocer announced during its quarterly earnings conference call Wednesday that it will open a 56,000-square-foot store on the ground floor of a 640-unit apartment complex, tentatively called 17W, to be developed by Holland Partner Group, based in Vancouver, Wash.

“It places Whole Foods at the crossroads of all that vitality that is happening in the downtown area,” said Heather Larrabee, marketing coordinator for the grocer’s Rocky Mountain region.

She said the Lower Downtown store will be larger than the chain’s typical footprint of 32,000 to 45,000 square feet or outlets built in recent years — a reflection of the growth in downtown’s residential development and tourism.

Retail broker Stuart Zall of The Zall Co. said Whole Foods’ announcement was not entirely surprising.

“The rumor had been circulating,” he said. “The timing is right. It makes sense, especially with (King Soopers parent) Kroger setting the path with its new store.”

Developer Randy Nichols, who helped bring King Soopers to the Central Platte Valley location, said the market is big enough for both grocers.

“When we did the King Soopers deal, we knew there was a chance that Whole Foods would come in,” he said. “We asked King Soopers if it would bother them, and their reaction was that it wouldn’t bother them at all. Whole Foods is next to them in a lot of locations.”

Peter Petricca, senior development director of Holland Partner Group, said bringing Whole Foods to the apartment complex “is a tremendous win for both the project itself and for the city.”

The development, with three 10-story apartment towers, will have an additional 12,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, one level of underground parking and 2½ levels of above-ground parking. Some of the spaces will be designated for Whole Foods shoppers.

Holland Partner Group also is developing the nearby Platform at Union Station.

Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp