Progress at 4th Ave

As you may remember, back in 2010, Jeff Garfield, owner of Bedrooms and More (a Wallyhood sponsor) bought the blighted scar at the corner of 4th Ave NE and 45th Street (see New Wallingford Landmark Coming).

Prior to that, the property had held a single-story retail space, but that was knocked down to make room for condos. When the economy tanked, the condo project was canceled, and Wallingford ended up with a big square of ugliness welcoming visitors at our eastern border. Jeff stepped in with grand plans.

That was 2010, and things have been moving slowly since then, but the good news is that they have been moving. Brady Gustafson spotted that applications have been accepted for review by the city this past June and July, with the proposal described as a “four-story structure containing one residential unit, 4,860 sq. ft. of office and 13,312 sq. ft. of retail, with parking for six vehicles”. As of July, it’s permitted to “establish use as office, retail, and dwelling unit and construct mixed use building with attached parking.” That’s two floors of retail, one of office and a top floor residential.

Jeff explained the delay:

This has been a long, complicated and expensive journey. A little over two years ago we put everything on hold. The first design looked quite sterile and museum like – Nice, but not fitting for what we do. I was also wrestling with whether we really needed such a building, me being of retirement age and seeing that this was going to be a long and somewhat risky project. With three sons, wife, daughter-in-law all working and the arrival of two grandsons, it became a reality that this would be a legacy building and more important.

A redesign to wood and homier feeling made me more comfortable and the last year or so has been spent working with the City to finalize everything. Our original builder, who had built our current building almost 30 years ago, bowed out but recommended a new builder. We are getting close but have not received permits from the City yet. Our hope is that those permits will come in October.

I like wood and homey.