Gridiron, the upcoming eleven-story, 87-unit condo building across from CenturyLink Field, has seen some modest sales so far as it tries to fill its residential space. As for the ground-floor retail space, that’s someone else’s concern now.
First reported by CHS, DJC fills us in on the details on the retail space below Gridiron being sold to local entrepreneur Dave Meinert for an undisclosed sum. Meinart is known for owning establishments such as The 5 Point Cafe, Lost Lake Cafe, Comet Tavern, and Big Mario's Pizza as well as many others.
Meinart tells DJC that “it's about 10,000 square feet” and that he plans to “put four different businesses in there. ” How the space will be broken down remains to be seen though three spaces will face Railroad Way and one will face Occidental. Meinart said the businesses will be “geared some toward neighborhood residents and some to the event traffic.” It’s be hard to have retail space near the stadiums and not keep that foot traffic in mind. Jeff Babienko of bARC Architects will design the entire project.
The Gridiron is tentatively scheduled to open in August 2017. Meinart told DJC that “we hope to be open before the Seahawks regular season” in 2017 but also admits that anyone who has ever opened a restaurant would tell you that’s easier said than done.