Whole Foods recently announced that it has scaled down plans to build its first Brooklyn market, at the corner of Third Street and Third Avenue, after years of efforts by the Civic Council and other community groups to get a more neighborhood-friendly store.
“Our new plan is extremely responsive to the surrounding neighborhood and its residents,” Mark Mobley of Whole Foods Market wrote in a letter to Community Board 6 outlining the changes.
One of the most significant changes has been in the design of the store’s parking lot. The company’s original plans, announced in 2005, included 430 parking spaces that would generate a whopping half-million new car trips through the community each year. The Civic Council and Park Slope Neighbors pushed to have fewer spots to reduce the traffic impact on Park Slope. The Austin, Tex.-based company responded in its latest proposal, calling for just 248 spaces and the elimination of parking on its roof.
The store, Mobley wrote, will also feature parking for energy-efficient vehicles, recharging stations for electric vehicles, and bicycle parking. To further reduce the need for parking, the store will also offer home delivery.
Instead of parking on the roof, Whole Foods will build a 20,000-square-foot greenhouse where organic produce will be grown for the store below.
The market itself will be approximately 25% smaller than previously announced, measuring about 52,000 square feet. While original plans had most of the store below ground to help meet zoning requirements, the redesign has the facility completely above ground to avoid problems with the site’s high water table and comply with environmental regulations.
The property has now been fully cleaned and remediated under the state’s brownfields program, Mobley wrote, so the company is gearing up to move ahead with its plans. Once complete, the market should create some 350 new jobs, most of which will be full-time.
The next step is for the company to apply to the city for a zoning variance on the site, which should take place by the end of January 2011, according to Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman. CB6 will hold a public hearing and review of the application early next year.
“Whole Foods’ smarter, greener, more neighborhood-friendly plan is both a great reminder of the power of grassroots action,” said Civic Council treasurer and Park Slope Neighbors founder Eric McClure, “and the win-win situations that can result when businesses are willing to listen to and engage with the community.”
from the December 2010 Civic News