Rose Garden Resident

News

Rose Garden may see two food stores by fall 2007

Whole Foods set to open; talk of new Trader Joe's

By Mary Gottschalk

Shopping for brie, baba ghanoush and pomegranate seeds in the Rose Garden area will be easier come fall 2007.

That's the projected opening date for the 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market going in at the corner of The Alameda and Stockton Avenue.

The natural and organic foods supermarket based in Austin, Texas, filed for rezoning of the property from its current commercial zoning to planned development on June 12.

Add the possibility of a Trader Joe's going into San Jose MarketCenter on Coleman Avenue by November 2007, and shopping options increase even more.

Whole Foods announced its intentions in September 2005, and a spokeswoman says things are on track for its projected opening.

Less clear is the Trader Joe's question.

Although there have been media reports Trader Joe's will join the MarketCenter lineup, none of the parties involved will confirm it.

The June 20 San Jose City Council approval of a $1.7 million subsidy to MarketCenter developers Cousins Properties to use to lure a grocery store to their complex fueled speculation. Council members Dave Cortese, Linda LaZotte and Chuck Reed opposed the move.

In making the request, the Redevelopment Agency wrote: "Because grocery stores in and around the Downtown are essential to support the residential growth in the Downtown, the Redevelopment Agency staff and the developer initiated discussions concerning opportunities and means to assure the opening of a grocery store within the MarketCenter project."

If that grocery store turns out to be a Trader Joe's, both Cousins and the city will be pleased, but it's not a done deal.

"The deal we did with San Jose MarketCenter, which was approved, does not specify a particular tenant. It just says grocery store," says Dennis Korabiak, downtown coordinator for the Redevelopment Agency.

"As long at they meet the square footage and generic definition we put into the agreement, it could be anybody," Korabiak adds.

"We haven't been advised yet by MarketCenter or Cousins whether they have a tenant. They need to get a tenant and build it out before they get any city money."

They also need to do it by November 2007 or the subsidy expires.

Bob Manarino, western region vice president of new sites and existing projects for Cousins, says, "We are very optimistic that a grocery store will be in the MarketCenter in the near term. That's all I can say."

Manarino did clarify that by "near term," he meant he hoped to have an announcement within 60 days.

Alison Mochizuka of Trader Joe's publicity department says, "I have nothing to confirm at this time."

Whether it's Trader Joe's or not, it won't be a grocery store on the scale of a Safeway or Albertson's, Korabiak says. He points out that the subsidy agreement is for a 12,000-square-foot store, while Safeway and Albertson's stores are 40,000 to 60,000 square feet.

Given the speculation surrounding both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, it might seem area residents have no place to shop for groceries, which is not the case.

Zanotto's, near the corner of Naglee and Bascom avenues, has been in business since 1976, offering a cross between a grocery store and upscale delicatessen. Zanotto's received a similar city subsidy of $1.67 million for its 14,000-square-foot downtown store.

There are also Safeway stores on three sides of the Rose Garden area: Midtown at W. San Carlos Street and Meridian Avenue; near Santa Clara University at 2605 The Alameda; and at Westfield Valley Fair near the corner of Winchester and Steven Creek boulevards.

Additionally, there are Food 4 Less, Cash and Carry, Costco and Target stores selling groceries nearby.

However, the desire for a local Trader Joe's has been there for years, fueled by frequent rumors.

In April 2004, Cleaves Avenue resident Brian Pirkl drew up a petition that said, "We would welcome a Trader Joe's with open arms to our neighborhood."

While nothing came of it at that time, Pirkl didn't give up on his dream.

His online petition remains up (www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?traderjo) and has more than 100 signatures, in addition to the several hundred he gathered in 2004.