RIDGEFIELD — Ridgefield is finally getting a full-service grocery store.
Rosauers Supermarket, a chain of grocery stores based in Spokane, will anchor an upcoming plaza at the Port of Ridgefield’s Discovery Ridge property at 45th Avenue and Pioneer Street.
Port of Ridgefield commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a purchase-and-sale agreement of the property, and Port CEO Brent Grening revealed news that a supermarket was coming to town.
“The long famine is over,” he said after the vote.
Construction is expected to break ground this summer, in the hopes of opening by spring 2019.
Per the agreement, the port will sell 9 acres to Discovery Ridge LLC for $1.2 million. The holding company will then contract FDM Development, of Ridgefield, to build the 53,000-square-foot grocery and four extra buildings for businesses.
The Port of Ridgefield expects to keep a quadrant of the 30-acre Discovery Ridge. Plans are to site a gas station there that would also be operated by Rosauers.
Landing the grocery store, though, is a big item checked off Ridgefield’s own shopping list.
Though the city has Ridgefield Pioneer Marketplace, officials say most residents need a larger option that is closer than stores in Woodland or Salmon Creek. Ridgefield City Councilor Don Stose said citizens have echoed as much in a 2015 citywide survey where they claimed it was the biggest hurdle facing the city, he said.
“That’s what the citizens of Ridgefield are looking for, is a grocery store,” he said. “That would satisfy the greater needs for all residents of the city of Ridgefield.”
City Manager Steve Stuart said the city needed the grocery store not only for its growing number of residents, but also if it hopes to land more businesses in the area.
“This is a great step for the community,” he said, adding that it is a “catalyst that complements what we already have.”
When the plaza opens, it should have no shortage of customers.
A new mixed-use development is under construction across Pioneer Street. The 40-acre project will stock 300 apartments-dwellers barely an aisle away.
The to-be-named project will also have its own businesses, such as a year-round farmers market, restaurants, salons, fitness studios and cafes. More than 30 businesses could land there.
Rosauers Supermarkets is a wholly owned subsidiary of URM Stores, headquartered in Spokane. There are 21 Rosauers stores in the region, according to the Port of Ridgefield.
