The Whole Foods Effect and the Central West End

In August, nextSTL reported on efforts to bring a Whole Foods Market to the long vacant lot at Euclid and West Pine in the city's Central West End neighborhood. The project now appears to be moving forward, with developer Bruce Mills announcing that the grocery chain has signed a letter of intent. The site was the location of the Doctor's Building until 2008, when it was demolished. The latest City Walk proposal is for a 6-story building with 159 rental apartments, 6,100 sq ft of community space (fitness center, club house, cafe and lounge), and 393 parking spaces (up from 312 in 2009) in a garage conceled from street view. The rendering above, from the 2009 proposal shows a seventh story on the half of the project nearest Euclid, but otherwise still appears to accurately reflect the current design.

At 30,000 square feet, the Central West End store will be very close to the same size as the 34,000 square foot Brentwood location. It appears that the grocer will be on one level despite previous planning drawings showing a two-level retail space. The lot measures 1.65 acres, or just more than 70,000 square feet. The store will occupy the first level of the western half of the development. The $60M mixed-use project is set to receive $10M in Tax Increment Financing. The Straub's grocer at Maryland and Kingshighway since 1947 is approximately 10,000 square feet.