Trader Joe's facility will bring jobs to Lacey

Spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki, who would not go into detail about the project, said the company plans to open a 500,000-square-foot distribution center next year.

The center likely will serve stores in Washington, including the one in Olympia, and it could be a sign that the Monrovia, Calif.-based company plans to open more of its neighborhood-style grocery stores in the state and Northwest. Trader Joe’s has eight stores in the Seattle area, one in University Place and one in Federal Way, according to its website.

Thurston County assessor data show Trader Joe’s Co. paid about $8 million for a 29-acre parcel at 3707 Hogum Bay Road N.E. That’s the site of Hawks Prairie 111 Corporate Park, a development that’s already home to a distribution center for Harbor Wholesale Foods.

John Teutsch of Seattle-based Teutsch Partners developed the Hawks Prairie Corporate Park site for light industrial use. He, too, wouldn’t go into detail about Trader Joe’s plans.

“It’s hard not to be pleased,” Teutsch said.

The city has issued a grading permit for the Trader Joe’s development and a foundation-only permit is under review, said Rick Walk, community-development director for the City of Lacey. Walk, citing an industry standard, said distribution centers typically employ 300 to 400 people.

The city once limited distribution centers to 200,000 square feet, but it revised that about a year ago to allow for buildings up to 500,000 square feet as long as certain conditions were met, Walk said. Some of those conditions include a development of 40 acres or more and at least three or more buildings so the development isn’t dominated by one massive structure.

Although Trader Joe’s has purchased a 29-acre parcel, the city requirements apply to the Hawks Prairie 111 Corporate Park, which is bigger than 40 acres, for example. After Harbor Wholesale Foods and Trader Joe’s, the corporate park has 64 remaining acres, Teutsch said.

Trader Joe’s made a splash in Olympia in August 2009 when it opened a store off Black Lake Boulevard. The grand opening became a fist-pumping celebration of the store’s arrival, including hundreds of people who waited in line before the doors opened.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403

rboone@theolympian.com

www.theolympian.com/bizblog