Safeway Demolition to Start in Next 3 Weeks

Groundbreaking for the new Safeway in downtown Wheaton is tentatively set for Nov. 9, according to Safeway officials. But the company is waiting for confirmation from Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett before finalizing the date.

“The old store will be demolished within the next three weeks,” Craig Muckle, head of public affairs and government relations for Safeway’s eastern division, said in an e-mail.

“All permits are in hand,” he added.  

The Gazette reported Oct. 12 that Safeway expected to begin demolition soon, but that Safeway did not yet have the necessary permits. The long-awaited decision to move ahead with work on the site on the corner of Georgia Avenue and Reedie Drive marks another important step in the major redevelopment process that will be taking place in downtown Wheaton over the next several years.

Because of delays in the permitting process and other issues, the new store will not open until 2013, pushed back from the mid-2012 target date originally eyed by Safeway, Muckle said.

Since 1951, the Safeway has been a fixture in downtown Wheaton. But the store has been closed since the middle of last year, awaiting the final clearance of mixed-use permits since developers are planning a 17-story apartment building on top of the store. This new mixed-use project will be on the same footprint of the former Safeway store, Muckle said.

The site will include the completely remodeled 58,000-square-foot Safeway, an underground garage where shoppers at the store can park, and a 486-unit apartment complex in the building to be constructed above the store. Apartment residents will be able to park in the three garage levels between the Safeway and the apartments.

Patriot Realty and Foulger-Pratt are the two development companies working on the project, according to Muckle.