A new Grocery Outlet for Lakewood and what’s next for Tacoma Discount World site
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Owner Sterling-linked LLC bought the Tacoma Discount World site in 2022 for $17.7 million.
- A March city filing proposes Cannon Construction use with warehouse and outdoor.
- Grocery Outlet closed in 2023, was demolished in 2024, and plans a new Lakewood store.
Two Lakewood projects tied to redevelopment plans for the long-closed Tacoma Discount World property are moving forward.
One appears to be working with a potential new tenant for the property, while plans to relocate a discount grocery store that once operated there are taking shape elsewhere.
The News Tribune has been following the progress of proposals tied to the prominent vacant commercial building next to southbound Interstate 5 at 11013 Pacific Highway SW. Tacoma Discount World, a previous retail venue for various small businesses, closed in 2023.
At the time, plans to repurpose the building for a neighborhood fulfillment center were being considered by the site’s owner, an LLC affiliated with Sterling Consumer Logistics Properties. The entity is a real estate fund managed by the Sterling Organization, based in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The LLC purchased the property in 2022 for $17.7 million.
A new application tied to the property was filed with the city in March of this year. That filing requested an updated determination of the property’s use based on zoning regulations. That application noted that the new filing was in response “to changing economic conditions and opportunities ... .”
The new proposed use would come under “Building Contractor (light and heavy) uses,” according to the filing, adding,“These types of businesses generally have heavy equipment that may be stored outside.”
The prospective user, it noted, would be Cannon Construction, a utilities contractor based in Milton.
Its proposed use of the site, according to the filing, would be for offices for administration and dispatch with a warehouse for material storage, equipment maintenance shop and secured outdoor storage for company vehicles, materials and equipment.
The company did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The city responded to the filing with: “’Building contractor’ land uses are permitted and allowed outright under the Property’s current zoning.”
Kelie Kahler is communications manager for the City of Lakewood, In response to questions, she told The News Tribune via email that the “City is currently working with tenant to secure lease. Permit has yet to be submitted.”
The most recent filing to the city involved site improvements with streetscape/curb improvements, replacing gravel surfaces with asphalt and adding more new curbing.
Grocery update
Meanwhile, Grocery Outlet’s Lakewood location on the property also closed in 2023 and was demolished in 2024 (along with Bigfoot Java drive-thru) to make way for the previously anticipated fulfillment center.
The grocery brand is moving forward with a new store at the former Lakewood Big Lots site, 5401 100th St. SW. Big Lots closed the location in 2024 amid widespread closures and eventual bankruptcy.
Kahler of the City of Lakewood told The News Tribune via email that Grocery Outlet is “tentatively set to open” January 2027.
Applications and filings have been recorded by the city as recently as May regarding tenant improvements and signage, among others, according to the city’s online permit portal.
