Metropolitan Market making moves to take over former Crown Hill Value Village

Meghan Walker Ballard

The now-empty Value Village building at 8350 15th Ave NW in Crown Hill is set to be transformed into a new Metropolitan Market.

As the Seattle DJC reports, Metropolitan Market and architect Cushing Terrell have filed plans to renovate the former Value Village and turn it into a new grocery store.

Value Village closed in November 2019 after about a decade in that location. Before that, the building was home to a QFC, which closed in 2009. Now, the 32-year-old building will return to its roots as another grocery store.

According to the city’s land-use records, a construction permit was filed in March for “tenant improvement for a new grocery store.” The scope of work includes building new interior partition walls, finishes, installation of new fixtures and equipment, plus associated mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and refrigeration work.

The opening date is still uncertain, but a spokesperson from Metropolitan Market says they’re hoping for early 2022.

The north end of Crown Hill will be transformed in coming years, with a large apartment complex planned for the northwest corner of 15th Ave NW and NW 85th St.

Rendering of the new apartment complex at NW 85th St and 15th Ave NW by architects Clark Barnes

According to the development plans, the corner site could become a seven-story mixed-use building with one level of below-grade parking. There would be 200 total residential units, 11,300 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, and parking accessible off the alley.

The apartment complex would be the first in the Crown Hill Urban Village to be built to the recently up-zoned 75-foot height limit.

To make way for the complex, several businesses (most of which are already closed) will be torn down, including the old Bento Sushi restaurant, Goofy’s Sports Bar and Grill, and the site of a former Pizza Hut. The massive complex will be just across the street from Metropolitan Market.

Metropolitan Market has several grocery store locations around the Seattle region, including West Seattle, Kirkland, Magnolia, Mercer Island, Tacoma, Sammamish, Sand Point, and Queen Anne.

The Seattle grocery store chain is under the Good Food Holdings umbrella, owned by Emart—part of a Seoul-based international retailer The Shinsegae Group—which operates around a couple of hundred stores in South Korea. Good Food Holdings also owns Portland-based New Seasons and the Bristol Farms and Lazy Acres Natural Market in Southern California.