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Still no word on Whole Foods' Hilldale store

Doug Shore  —  8/22/2008 6:53 am

A few weeks after Whole Foods CEO and co-founder John Mackey announced the company would reduce the number of stores expected to open in fiscal year 2009, there is still no word on the fate of the proposed 65,000-square-foot Whole Foods grocery at Hilldale Mall.

Tim Gruber, the area's alderman, said he spoke a couple of weeks ago with Joseph Freed & Associates, the developers of the project, but could get few details. "They didn't want to give a specific start date," said Gruber. "I haven't heard anything since. I don't know what the hold up is."

Gruber also said residents in his district have been wondering what's going on with the project.

The new, larger store, which would be built on the corner of University Avenue and Segoe Road, would replace the company's existing store at 3313 University Ave.

Though two employees at the current store indicated the timetable for opening the new store had been pushed back a year or more, Kate Klotz, a spokeswoman for the Midwest region of Whole Foods, said staff didn't know details, only rumors.

In early August, Klotz said she did not believe the Madison store would be affected by the company's decision to pull back elsewhere.

"I'm fairly certain that the Madison store will not be one of the six that we have decided will not open," she said.

In a follow-up email, however, Klotz stated she could not immediately confirm the store's fate. On Wednesday, Klotz said there was never a real timeline or target date and would not even admit the project was behind schedule.

Construction on the store, originally scheduled to open in late 2009, has been pushed back a number of times.

Mike Van Erem, a plan review specialist with the city's Building and Inspection Department, said Thursday he has not heard of any developments on the construction project.

"It's kind of strange," said Van Erem. "If they're getting ready to do construction, they would usually be trying to get building permits and approvals."

And earlier this month, Tim Parks, a planner with the City of Madison's Planning and Development Department, confirmed that Freed had yet to finalize various documents pertaining to construction.

"As far as I know, Freed plans to begin construction towards the end of the month," said Parks. "We haven't heard anything different."

The development manager at Freed did not return a phone call Thursday.

Freed bought the property in 2004 and originally planned to have a Whole Foods opened by the end of 2006.

Samara Kalk Derby contributed to this report.

Doug Shore  —  8/22/2008 6:53 am