Daily Grind building Dec. 3, 2009

Hello Friends and Neighbors,

As you know for the last few months we’ve been working on finalizing the design of the New Seasons Market that we’re opening on Hawthorne, between 40th and 41st. We’re very grateful for the warm welcome we’ve received and we’re really looking forward to being an active and contributing member of the neighborhood.

While everyone seems to be excited about our overall plans, we heard lots of questions and concerns about our proposal for how to get cars and trucks in and out of our parking lot. As you may remember, the plan calls for a ramp to the second floor parking lot to be located on one side of the building and the receiving door for freight (and the associated parking area for smaller delivery trucks) to be located on the other side of the building.

The plan that we brought to the neighborhood meeting this summer showed the ramp entrance on 41st and the receiving door on 40th. We designed the store like that because we felt it best met the needs of all of the stakeholders, including our customers, neighbors, staff, suppliers, drivers on Hawthorne and the side streets, pedestrians and bicyclists. During numerous meetings, neighbors, adjacent business owners, city staff and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance shared their various perspectives about how this issue could be resolved. After listening to everyone’s point of view, only one thing was clear: We needed more help to figure out how to proceed.

As a result, we hired Kittleson and Associates, a transportation planning consulting company to perform a traffic study and to make a recommendation about which design would best meet the needs of the stakeholders. Kittleson is an independent third party, with no stake in the outcome of our project. We didn’t ask them to come to any specific conclusion and they get paid the same fee regardless of which scenario they recommended. We will admit that we were hopeful that the Kittleson report would suggest having the delivery area on 40th because it would make operating the store much more efficient.

However, their study clearly indicates that the best option is to flip the building design from our current proposal and to put the parking ramp on 40th and the receiving area on 41st. According to Kittleson, this will create a safer environment for vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians and neighbors on the side streets and contribute to a better flow of traffic on Hawthorne as a whole and in and out of our parking lot. You can read the entire Kittleson report here and here.

On Wednesday October 21, we met with representatives from the Portland Bureau of Transportation to share the results from the Kittleson report. Everyone at the meeting agreed that following the recommendations of the independent third party was the best way to go.

This means that we’re going to design and build a store that has the parking ramp on SE 40th and the delivery area on SE 41st. We’re thankful for all of the input that we received from the neighbors, the city and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. It was very helpful to us in making this decision.

We realize that some people may be disappointed with this outcome. We apologize for that and assure you that we’ll continue to work with you to be a good neighbor.

Please feel free to get back to us if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks again.
Brian Rohter
CEO    
brianr@newseasonsmarket.com

Lisa Sedlar
President
lisas@newseasonsmarket.com

• The store will be 15,000 s.f.
• The store will have an upper level parking lot with 37 spaces.
• An up/down ramp entering and exiting from SE 41st will have a signal system on Hawthorne indicating the number of available parking spaces.
• Neighbors can work with the city to create a “Left Turn Only” sign for vehicles entering onto 41st.
• Both a staircase and an elevator will be available from the parking lot into the store. The elevator will have the capacity for 4 carts.
• The upper parking level will have a parapet which will hide the view of cars from those at street level.
• A trellis is planned for the upper level.
• We are working toward creating lighting on the roof that meets all safety standards but isn’t intrusive to our neighbors.
• An 8 ft. setback between our property and our immediate neighbors to the south will include bio-swales for water runoff and emergency egress.
• A loading zone on Hawthorne in front of the store will allow large trucks to deliver from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., 6 days a week. While some smaller trucks will park on SE 40th, no large trucks will be allowed on SE 40th or SE 41st.
• Our staff are always encouraged to bike, walk, or take public transportation to work. Many of our folks get to our current stores this way. There will be no staff parking on neighborhood streets such as SE 40th and SE 41st. Parking on major transit routes, like Hawthorne, will be allowed.
• 25 total bike staples will be fitted to the sidewalks on both sides of the store, lining SE 40th and SE 41st. These will hold 50 bikes.
• A walk-up window—Maryanne’s window—will be available for the purchase of select deli items.
• We are planning on having outside tables. We’ll be working to see if a small 8-seat counter can be included in the interior design.
• This store will be a bit more vertical than our Division Street store. We’ll offer a full selection of grocery, produce and meat and seafood items. The deli will focus on grab-and-go options since we have very limited seating. We won’t have a bakery on-site, but we will be bringing fresh bread in from nearby New Seasons Market bakeries.
• 75% of the old Daily Grind building will be recycled. While we’re not able to use the same façade, we are hoping to be able to grind some of the materials and use them in our own construction.
• We were unable to secure the delicious recipes from the folks at the former Daily Grind.
• Many of the concerns raised at the meeting were about the availability of parking. We will do what we can to alleviate these concerns, and we will certainly address issues as they arise. We will work with our neighbors as we move forward, and we encourage all of you to be in contact with us if you have any further questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We hope to start demolition at the end of the year, and if all goes as planned, we'll be opening our doors in October of 2010.

To view our preliminary renderings (pdf files) please click here and here.

Thanks again for joining us. We apologize for taking a year longer than we thought, but we look forward to being part of the neighborhood. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as things progress.

Brian Rohter
CEO    
brianr@newseasonsmarket.com

Lisa Sedlar
President
lisas@newseasonsmarket.com

Locally owned grocery company New Seasons Market announced that it will open a new store in Southeast Portland at Southeast 40th and Southeast Hawthorne. The opening of the store will create approximately 140 new jobs, provide grocery services to the neighborhood and support local community organizations and vendors. The 14,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in 2010.

“We are excited to keep this former site of the Daily Grind, one of Portland’s oldest and most beloved natural food stores, under local ownership,” said Brian Rohter, CEO of New Seasons Market (and a neighborhood resident). “We’re going to schedule community meetings with our neighbors to brainstorm what features they’d like to see in the store, and then we’ll get started on the design process. We look forward to capturing the spirit of the former store and the flavor of the neighborhood.”

Like all New Seasons Market stores, the Hawthorne location will carry essential groceries for everyday living and will feature local and organic produce, natural meats and chicken, fresh seafood, cheeses, organic breads, an extensive wine and beer selection and a full-service deli. A store chef will be available to provide great menu and cooking ideas or help customers turn an everyday meal into something spectacular.

“Hawthorne has so many old time locally owned businesses. It’s a natural fit for us to have a store there. We can’t wait to become part of the neighborhood,” said Lisa Sedlar, president of New Seasons Market. “Adding another store also means that we have the opportunity to expand our support for local farmers, fishers and ranchers; like blue cheese from Rogue River Creamery; strawberries from West Union Farm in Washington County; albacore tuna from the coast and pasture-raised chicken from Kookoolan Farm in Yamhill.”

New Seasons Market enthusiastically supports the communities where it operates. In 2007 the company made donations to more than 500 nonprofits and community groups. It also sold $2,780,000 worth of scrip, which resulted in donations of $139,000 to support Portland and Washington County schools. Additionally, the company’s Pacific Village program distributed grants to 14 local organizations dedicated to supporting small Northwest growers. A total of $50,000 was divided among grantees, which included 11 neighborhood farmers markets throughout the Portland metro area, the Portland Farmers Market, the Historic Portland Public Market Foundation, Ecotrust Food & Farms Program and Portland Schools Foundation. In addition, 50 cents from the sale of each loaf of New Seasons Market’s signature organic sourdough bread is donated to the Loaves & Fishes Meals-on-Wheels program. The Hawthorne store will make similar contributions to local organizations.

The property developers are area residents Robert Sacks and Dave Schrott of A & R Development.

Founded by three Portland-area families, New Seasons Market continues to be locally owned and operated. It strives to combine the service and atmosphere of an old-fashioned neighborhood market with a selection of foods and other products for today’s lifestyle. New Seasons Market stores are located in the Portland neighborhoods of Raleigh Hills, Sellwood, Concordia, Arbor Lodge, and Seven Corners (Southeast Portland), as well as Lake Oswego’s Mountain Park, Hillsboro’s Orenco Station, Beaverton’s Cedar Hills Crossing and Clackamas County’s Happy Valley. The company will also be opening a store in the Progress Ridge neighborhood of Beaverton in 2010.