The nation’s largest community-owned food market to be first major grocer to enter downtown in more than a decade
SEATTLE – PCC Community Markets (PCC), Wright Runstad & Company and J.P. Morgan Asset Management today announced that PCC will open a flagship store in downtown Seattle’s new Rainier Square project. PCC is the largest community-owned food market in the U.S. and the first major grocer to lay stakes in downtown Seattle in more than a decade. PCC will join Amazon, and Equinox fitness clubs, in their precommitments to the 58-story, 1.17 million-square-foot mixed-use project, which will open in mid-2020 and is being developed by Wright Runstad & Company and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
“Downtown Seattle is a vibrant and growing neighborhood with so many different appetites — from the lunch crowd hungry for a quick, made-from-scratch bite to tourists craving an authentic taste of our city to the growing population of residents who want to stock their kitchens with fresh, local, organic, sustainably sourced and seasonal fare,” said Cate Hardy, PCC Community Markets CEO. “The opportunity to be part of this community in the central Rainier Square location is of incredible significance for our co-op. We are excited about the impact we can make on behalf of local producers, farmers and ranchers, and the deeper connection we can foster with the town we’ve called home for 65 years.”
PCC’s new downtown flagship store will occupy 20,000 square feet in the Rainier Square project. Located on the block between Union and University and Fourth and Fifth in the heart of downtown, it will have great proximity to transit, the arts, shopping, hotels, major office buildings and the convention center. It will serve the downtown, Belltown, West Edge, Pioneer Square and First Hill neighborhoods, and bring about 100 new union jobs to the surrounding community.
Rainier Square will be Seattle’s second tallest building and consist of 722,000 square feet of office space, 188 luxury apartments and almost 80,000 square feet of retail space, all above a seven-level underground parking garage when the project is complete in 2020. A future phase of the project that will include a luxury-lifestyle hotel is expected to commence construction in late 2018.
“When we started this project, we knew it would be important to include a top-quality grocery store not just to serve the residents of the building, but also the many people who visit or work in the downtown area,” said Greg Johnson, President of Wright Runstad & Company. “Rainier Square is an iconic project in the city’s best location and PCC is Seattle’s iconic food market. It’s the perfect match.”
As with PCC’s other locations, the downtown store will celebrate products that are fresh, local, organic, sustainably sourced and seasonal. More than 95 percent of PCC’s produce selection is organic; its meats are 100 percent organic, non-GMO or grass fed; its seafood is sustainably sourced adhering to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch standards; and, whenever possible, the co-op sources its products from local producers, farmers, ranchers and fishers. Using those same ingredients, PCC chefs make salads, soups, entrées and side dishes fresh from scratch daily onsite in each store.
In addition to attentive and knowledgeable staff, PCC has among the highest product standards in the country. The co-op stocks its shelves with products made without harmful artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, nanotechnology or synthetic biology. It also has one of the cleanest selections of health and body care products, turning away more than 500 ingredients allowed at other retailers.
As a community-owned organization, PCC is dedicated to returning a healthy share of its profits back to the neighborhoods in which it operates. In 2016, the co-op gave back 38 percent of its after-tax net earnings to its 58,000 Seattle-area members, and an additional 15 percent of its after-tax net earnings to schools and nonprofits around the Puget Sound. With the opening of the downtown store, PCC also will expand its food bank initiative, grocery rescue programs, local donations and school fundraising to the downtown area.
About PCC Community Markets
Founded in Seattle in 1953, PCC Community Markets (PCC) is the nation’s largest community-owned food market and WholeFoods Magazine’s 2016 Retailer of the Year. PCC has an active membership spanning more than 58,000 households. In 2016, the co-op gave 38 percent of its after-tax net earnings back to its 58,000 Seattle-area members, and an additional 15 percent of its after-tax net earnings to schools and nonprofits around the Puget Sound, including PCC Farmland Trust, Washington Tilth Association and FareStart.
PCC operates 10 stores in the Puget Sound area, including the cities of Bothell, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle. Its Seattle stores are in the neighborhoods of Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, View Ridge, and West Seattle, which will reopen in 2019. The co-op will open its Burien store in Spring 2018. It also has plans to open new stores in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 2019 and Madison Valley neighborhood in 2020. For more information, visit: Website, Facebook or Instagram.
About Wright Runstad & Company
Seattle-based Wright Runstad & Company develops, manages and leases high-quality commercial office and mixed-use buildings located primarily in the Pacific Northwest. The company is in its fifth decade as one of the region’s premier real estate development and operating companies, delivering outstanding property performance and superior investment returns. Wright Runstad & Company maintains an exceptional reputation among tenants and institutional investors for its demonstrated commitment to integrity and high levels of quality and service. For additional information, visit www.wrightrunstad.com.
About J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives
J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives is the alternative investment arm of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. With more than $125 billion in assets under management and over 800 professionals (as of September 30, 2017), we offer strategies across the alternative investment spectrum including real estate, private equity and credit, infrastructure, transportation, liquid alternatives, and hedge funds. Operating from 23 offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, our independent alternative investment engines combine specialist knowledge and singular focus with the global reach, vast resources and powerful infrastructure of J.P. Morgan to help meet each client’s specific objectives. For more information: www.jpmorganassetmanagement.com.
