In a recent press release, commercial real estate firm Meriwether Partners announced that it acquired Wallingford Plaza — the office building on the corner of Stone Way and N. 45th St. Part of the space, including the ground floor, has been leased to Walgreens:
Wallingford Plaza is a 3-story, 30,554 square foot building with ground floor retail and two floors of office located at the corner of Stone Way North and North 45th Street in the heart of the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle (4468 Stone Way North). 45th Street is the commercial hub for the neighborhood and offers tenants easy access to retail amenities and many public transit options. The ground floor retail space and a portion of the second floor were recently leased to Walgreens and the entire third floor is leased to Keller Williams. The building is 75% leased with approximately 7,500 square feet of vacant office space on the second floor. The renovation of the ground floor retail space begins in July. Meriwether also plans various cosmetic improvements to the building to upgrade its image.
Many thanks to Marc Stiles of the Daily Journal of Commerce who broke the news this morning.
Anything is better than nothing I suppose, but wasn’t there a Walgreens where those condos are now down by the green auto place and the Taco Time? Maybe that was a Rite-Aid.
Yup, it was a Rite-Aid.
So that’s why they are totally trashing the entire interior on the ground floor and creating tons of waste. We already have Pharmaca and Bartells. Walgreens is not needed.
That’s a pretty unusual spot for a Walgreen’s. They usually require tons and tons of parking. Maybe a new leaf.
I remember reading that it is Walgreen’s “mission” to have a store within five miles of every home in the United States. I guess the U District store doesn’t suffice.
I’m not a fan of Walgreen’s, but that’s better than nothing. And that building is so hideous that a Walgreen’s logo might actually be an aesthetic improvement.
@Breadbaker – there are 34 parking spaces in the back lot.
Kind of sucks. One great thing about Wallingford is how few chains we have :-/ Is it too late to try and stop this?
I’ve been a life long customer of Bartell and still am..elsewhere, but the Wallingford Bartell pharmacy service has become so terrible, I’ll do everything possible not to use them anymore. The few staple employees are great, but the incompetence of the others just out weigh the few. It’s time to give someone else in the neighborhood a try.
Steve
too bad it can’t be another coffee shop.
i was saddened when Beso Del Sol left.
FYI, for those of you not happy with Bartell’s, Pharmaca is a pleasure.
Or another hair salon. My goodness, how many places do we need in Wallingford to get your hair cut. I think that there are more than 10 between Stone Way and I-5.
E30 – lots of luck. According to a pharmacist friend, Bartell’s is the only pharmacy here committed to having a licensed pharmacist present at all times. If you experience incompetence at their pharmacy, they would want to hear about & correct it. (again, good luck trying that at Wallgreens.)
C & Josh – it’s never too late if you can gather enough similarly-minded citizens.
Lesli, I’ve sent Wallingford Bartell’s an email about the same issue three times, without so much as a response. I just came from there getting the last of an old prescription and a couple of the old staple employees were there with GREAT service. Thanks for the insight about the pharmacist, I’ve always thought they were top notch but they’ve been having problems for a while with no end in sight.
Steve
I miss Beso del Sol too. My understanding is they got the unceremonial boot from the old landlord, which apparently preferred to keep the place vacant for years instead for whatever idiotic reason. Can anyone confirm?
Yuck! I don’t want that straight from China crap on such a visible corner in our hood.
When I first moved to Seattle (1972), there was a pharmacy where Beso del Sol later was. And there was another pharmacy where Babalu (sp?) now is (at 45th & Wallingford). As well as Bartell’s.
E-30. I’m sorry that you got no response to your e-mails. Did you e-mail the comments page on the Bartell website? Customer comments and complaints are supposed to be forwarded to me directly I personally respond to every one. I feel terrible that your comments fell through the cracks. I would love to hear from you, even if you no longer want to fill your prescriptions with us. We just got a new pharmacy manager and she and I are working hard to rectify our past problems and make the pharmacy experiance a better one. Please stop in or give me a call. If I’m not around any member of my management staff will be happy to hear from you. The store’s phone number is 206-632-3313
Thank You,
Heidi Heath
Store Manager
Bartell Drugs Wallingford
Can’t fathom why we need another Bartell’s-like store in this neighborhood. Especially one that funnels profits out of the greater Seattle area. (Bartell’s is locally owned.) Not only that, another sterile storefront — like the new bank. Ugh.
And yes, there’s the AWFUL parking lot out back. (Ever tried to maneuver even a modest-sized car in/out of that lot? People will use the street eventually.) Then there’s the issue of many more cars going in/out at an already BUSY intersection. (Ever tried being a pedestrian in that vicinity?)
I was really hoping we’d get another restaurant in that space–especially with more of a “hanging out”, locals gather, kind of vibe. (Or at least some authentic/healthy Mexican food like La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard.) Though we have lots of options in the ‘hood, why rip out a commercial kitchen and turn it into a store?
Thank you Heidi!
I have had problems with Bartells pharmacy also. A big fit and comments to manager have made a complete change. I hated having to have the fit, but it worked.
Re Walgreens- what about that structure on Stoneway.. who knows what they will have- another haircut place? OOPS! Another pharmacy?
I need to add that I met a new young person who I believe is a new Brtell’s pharmacy manager just before leaving on a trip. She sounded intelligent and was able to track all myquestions and answered with knowledge about what to me was important and to her a random client question- she didn’t have to look anything up. I was impressed.
Beso del Sol – seriously. They were a blight in the neighborhood with music until 2:00 am, folks making noise and urinating in yards at closing time (and before). The list goes on and so did conversations with SPD by MANY in the surrounding area. I say YAY! to Walgreens.
Any news on this project? It looks like construction stalled and now a for lease sign is up. Did Walgreens pull out?
Construction was still buzzing this morning (Monday, Oct. 24). The For Lease sign is for office space above the retail space. We hadn’t heard anything about whether or not Walgreen’s has pulled out.