Should Walgreens Build Mixed Use?

The new Starbucks is only part of the story for 6th & Sprague … A proposed Walgreen’s may be located directly behind it, which would involve demolishing the current strip-mall structure.

Plans have called for your run-of-the-mill Walgreen’s to go in there. But the developer wanted to build farther off the street than code allows, which triggered public comment. And when given a chance to comment, the public expressed distaste at the proposal.

We hear the developers are reworking the proposal so as to strictly conform to city codes governing low density suburban structures, and thus would be able to skip public comment and allow them to build a single-story Walgreen’s with surface parking.

The same developer, as it happens, tried to build a standard Walgreen’s on Broadway in Seattle’s Capitol Hill. After public outcry, they ended up with something …. a little better.

What do you think? Is the corner of 6th & Spague a good place to fight for mixed-use? Or should we let the suburbs stay suburbs?

(Thanks, Jake!)