Wegmans appears ready to start construction of its Columbia supermarket -- at least according to the Howard County building permit that Wegmans applied for on June 30, 2009.
An employee of Wegmans Construction in Rochester applied to build a temporary construction trailer at 8895 McGaw Road in Columbia. That is the site across from Apple Ford where Wegmans has been talking about a new store since at least 2006. A county employee appears to have done a "building review" on July 1, 2009, but there isn't a permit issued yet.
(Update: In January 2011, Wegmans applied for permits to actually start building the grocery store and the accompanying parking garage.)
This confirms comments by Wordbones -- who is the source for Wegmans construction news -- on the Tales of Two Cities blog. In June, Wordbones wrote that their local attorney said the company had prevailed against legal challenges. The attorney did not have a date for a Columbia opening then, and the Wegmans Web site still said "TBD" today and listed it behind two stores to open in 2010. About five months ago, Wordbones heard that Wegmans was aiming for early 2011.
I heard about the permit from an anonymous comment on an earlier post. (Thank you for all the comments!) You can check application B09001570 yourself at the Howard County Web site. Just search for all permits on McGaw Road in June 2009.
I'm a huge Wegmans fan, and I posted before about why I want Wegmans. If you want to comment about Wegmans and what it brings/does to the local shopping scene, please comment on that prior post.
Really looking forward to Wegman's in Columbia. I work near the one in Hunt Valley, and I think it's a great market.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of supermarkets, drove by the Harris Teeter in Maple Lawn yesterday. Floors, walls and decor up, every light in the place on. Couldn't tell if shelving and freezers/ref were in yet.
ReplyDeleteYay! I grew up with a Wegmans (lived in PA), and I'm very excited that this is finally going through!
ReplyDeleteCool. Would love to see a Whole Foods as well -- I adore our local chains and stores (MOMs, Roots, and David's), but they all lack a good meat and fish counter. Of course, being a Howard County girl I have many (fond?) memories of my dad waking us up at the crack of dawn to go to the fish market in Jessup....
ReplyDeleteGood find HC. There are two Federal lawsuits against the county by people trying to stop this and other projects. Wegmans must not feel the lawsuits will have any success and neither do I.
ReplyDeleteAdd a Whole Foods and an In-N-Out Burger and we would have it all.
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT news! I'm looking forward so much to see this store here in Howard County. I love the one in Hunt Valley. They are a unique store.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Western New York shopping at Wegmans. We don't have any other stores in MD currently that can hold a candle to Wegmans. None. I'm looking forard to them building!
ReplyDeleteWork has started. The temporary construction trailer has been delivered and there are pallets of fencing in the parking lot. Another permit was issued for a contractor to cap the water and sewer lines. The contractor was there today doing that.
ReplyDeleteHuge win for Wegmans, Howard County and especially those hundreds of people who fight traffic and try to find parking Monday through Friday from 11:30am-1pm at the few lunch spots (ie Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, etc.)near the Gateway/Snowden. Wegmans is awesome for lunch - salads, pizza, subs, sushi, anything you could possibly want. Not sure why anyone would want to fight something so positive and benefical to the community, so I'm thankful that stronger heads prevail and Wegmans will soon be part of my "world!"
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I can't wait for it.
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