Make room for Target
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, November 1, 2005
MARYSVILLE – Target wants to join Costco at a large shopping center on the west side of I-5, as plans to greatly expand commercial development between Marysville and Arlington move forward.
Target is applying for a building permit to put up a 127,000-square-foot store – its typical size – at the new Lakewood Crossing center, said Gloria Hirashima, Marysville’s community development director.
A slightly larger Costco store also is proposed at the site, which is in a recently annexed area of Marysville just north of Gissberg Twin Lakes County Park.
Red Robin, known for gourmet hamburgers, also has submitted a preliminary application to join the shopping center.
Overall, Lakewood Crossing will feature 476,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. By comparison, Marysville Town Center is less than half that size.
Among those to be displaced by Lakewood Crossing is the Plant Farm at Smokey Point, a nursery on Twin Lakes Avenue visible from I-5. Employees couldn’t say when the business will close.
Other details of the new shopping center and other tenants were not available, according to Powell Development, the Kirkland-based developer of Lakewood Crossing.
Skanska USA of Beaverton, Ore., the applicant to build the new Target store, referred calls to Target’s real estate department, which did not return calls from The Herald.
The area between Marysville and Arlington is emerging as a major retail hub. In addition to Lakewood Crossing and the retail businesses already present in Smokey Point, Wal-Mart is preparing to build a new supercenter on 172nd St. NE.
“Traffic always is a concern, but it will be so exciting to have these new stores,” said Julie Morse, president of the Smokey Point Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going to be fun, too, to have these shops in town and not have to drive to Everett or Mount Vernon.”
Morse said representatives from Costco and smaller businesses opening in the area already have or plan to begin attending the chamber’s meetings.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
