LAYTON -- The demolition of the 50-year-old Fort Lane Shopping Center has hit high gear, while Layton staff exchange design ideas with WinCo Foods, the tenant expected to fill most of the new available space.
WinCo Foods, a Boise, Idaho based grocery store chain, has purchased 8.74 acres in old downtown Layton to be an anchor tenant for the 22-acre Fort Lane Village, a multimillion-dollar commercial retail project being developed at the corner of Gentile Street and Fort Lane, just off the new $97 million south Layton interchange currently under construction and due for completion in December.
The project is being developed by Fort Lane Village LLC., which is a consortium of three local businessmen consisting of Kevin Garn and Doug Durbano of Layton and Jeff Yarbrough of Kaysville.
The Layton City Council during a recent strategic planning meeting discussed what they are hoping the WinCo Store will look like upon its completion.
To avoid a "big box" look, where the store is going to be 94,682-square feet in size, city staff is requesting WinCo Foods build a "Cadillac" version of its store model in Layton.
Staff has taken the liberty of studying the different WinCo Foods store locations throughout the country, and is hoping the company will build in Layton a store resembling the store WinCo had built in Sumner, Wash., Community and Economic Development Director Bill Wright said.
"That is sort of the expectation that we have," Wright told the council. "We were suggesting the Cadillac,"
WinCo Foods store spokesman Mike Read could not be reached for comment and the store's website has not yet announced that the company is building a store in Layton.
Some suggestions city staff has made to WinCo Foods officials for its store design include the addition of columns with stone bases, decorative second-story windows and a design highlighting the central portion of the store front with a popped-top roof.
"They were actually fairly responsive to this," Wright said of store representatives who have submitted two different design concepts, and are preparing to submit a third.
The goal is to have all the entitlements on the project in place by October, with WinCo Foods projecting a 9-month construction window to build the store, city officials said.
Councilman Michael Bouwhuis and Councilman Barry Flitton approve of the direction the city is taking on the project.
Flitton said adding a popped-top roof to the central portion of the store would add to the overall design concept of what the city wants to see done with the redevelopment project.
The meetings city representatives have held with WinCo Foods officials have been productive, with an exchange of ideas taking place, Mayor Steve Curtis said.
"(WinCo was) mostly worried about corporate identity," Wright said.
In addition, the new Fort Lane Village will include a new Zions Bank.
The remainder of the development in Fort Lane Village will proceed as market demand dictates and as the city will allow, Durbano said.
Fort Lane Village LLC. envisions a retail village with a multistory look that is inviting to the public and works with the neighboring park, high school and residential area, Durbano said.
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