Viva Two Buck Chuck! Trader Joe’s Coming to Walnut Hill and Central: I THINK I Told You So…

I am just so darn giddy with excitement, I had to go search and see if I really did tell you this, and I DID!!!, last November when Central Market was under construction at Preston Royal. I had heard from a reliable source that Trader Joe’s was going to plant its second or third Dallas store at the northwest corner of North Central Expressway and Walnut Hill Lane.

What fabu news for the neighborhoods! The famous West Coast foodie store that you have to drag me out of in Santa Fe or Cali will anchor a new development to be built on the vacant 42-acre property on that corner that is also to include an R.E.I.

Once upon a time, many moons ago, that corner was the Willow Creek apartments and shopping center, which were torn down starting in 2007, after a fire. Provident Realty planned to build a $300 million urban shopping and housing village on the tract. But the project stalled during the recession and bank credit crunch. Wells Fargo foreclosed on the tract in late 2009. I recall an auction where no one bought. Kroenke Holdings bought the land from Wells Fargo Bank in 2010 and formed a partnership with Provident Realty to continue development. Isn’t it nice that despite the bust, this project still came together?

Seems the stinkers at Provident Realty Advisors and Kroenke Holdings of Missouri have been covertly working with Trader Joe’s since last summer, planning a 14,000 square foot store as well as a variety of other developments on the corner, including several hundred units of multifamily residential at the same time. Keeping us in the dark, eh?

Trader Joe’s is opening its first two Texas stores on June 15 in Fort Worth and Houston; nine locations have been announced for Texas so far, including two more locations in Houston and one each in Austin and San Antonio.

According to Steve Brown, Trader Joe’s is “known for its value-priced store brands, kitschy interiors and zany marketing campaigns, Trader Joe’s has been in business since 1958. The company has more than 370 stores in 32 states.” Me, I like Two Buck Chuck, the ginger cookies and everything in the prepared food case.

The neighborhood is already AA Central: Houston-based Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods has a 43,000-square-foot store (Good Lord!) near the southeast corner of Central and Walnut Hill, and is opening up another location at Preston-Royal where Blockbuster used to be. (Talk about the maturing of the community: it used to be a Toys R Us!) Then Total Wine & More, a Maryland wine and beer retailer, is opening a store in this quad. As my friend Wyman Elrod says:

“There will soon be large liquor and wine merchants on all four corners of this intersection. You should move to The Meadows or Glen Lakes and walk to get your wine! You probably can even have it delivered like Ozarka!”

Another coolio thing about this deal: the neighboring Homeowners Associations really worked with the developers on the site:

“As most of you know, the 42-acre property at the northwest corner of Walnut Hill and Central Expressway that was owned by Provident Realty Advisors was foreclosed on by Wells Fargo late last year. Because the Wells Fargo loan pre-dated the private deed restrictions (“PDR”) that The Meadows, Glen Lakes and Windsor Park had collectively negotiated with Provident, the PDR has been negated. However, the zoning that we negotiated remains in place (see www.themeadowsna.org for a copy of the approved zoning). Because of continued support from our City Council representative and the expectation that any future owner will likely seek changes to the existing zoning, we believe we will have reasonable influence in what ultimately transpires on the site. As a reminder, current zoning includes, among other things, a requirement that the western-most 385 feet (approximately 17 acres) be solely residential, with no more than 140 residences that must be townhomes (rather than condos, apartments, etc). Wells Fargo has recently opened up bidding for the site. The Joint Task Force (made up of representatives from The Meadows, Glen Lakes and Windsor Park) will continue to work with potential developers on behalf of our respective neighborhoods. The JTF is currently taking the approach that, rather than express upfront what our neighborhoods want on the site, we will wait and see what the future owner/developer has in mind.”