There is not much hope that Whole Foods will be moving to Interbay anytime soon. Magnolia Voice was the first to report that Whole Foods is being sued by the developer of the shopping center on 15th Ave West. Now the space that was supposed to house the high end grocery store sits empty and the development looks like a ghost town. An update in the PI today says it does not look like there is much of a chance that anybody will be taking the Whole Foods space soon. And that makes finding other tenants tough.
“When you take away the anchor, it doesn’t matter what kind of economy you’re in,” it’s tough to get tenants, said Rick Parks of TRF Pacific, project leasing agent. “Retailers are on hold anyway in this economy.”
And, he said, “the months between September and Christmas are a dead time for leasing.”
The mall was to open by year-end, he said. But only two tenants, Subway and Interbay Cleaners, are finishing their spaces. Two other tenants, Verizon Wireless and Peet’s Coffee & Tea, have leases, Parks said, but haven’t begun improvements.
Verizon Wireless spokesman Scott Charlston said Tuesday that it doesn’t know if it will occupy the space.
A spokeswoman said Peet’s intends to honor its lease but wants an anchor tenant to begin construction.
