Whole Foods to Anchor Trolley Square New Bldg. Planned for Natural Foods Grocer; Redevelopment of Upscale Center to Move Forward in January

Whole Foods Market has inked a deal to anchor Trolley Square, the upscale Salt Lake City shopping center owned by ScanlanKemperBard Cos. (SKB).

The natural and organic foods chain will occupy a 53,260-square-foot building set to break ground next fall or winter. The $12 million project will include two levels of underground parking and should take about 16 months to complete, according to Blake Hunt Ventures, SKB's partner in Trolley Square's redevelopment.

SKB acquired the historic site from Simon Property Group for $38 million earlier in the year and immediately laid plans to redevelop the property, including the addition of 50,000 square feet for a new anchor tenant.

Phase I of the project, which will begin in January and complete in the summer, will include a $6 million renovation of the property's main building, a 160,000-square-foot, two-level structure, and the surrounding landscape.

Construction of the Whole Foods location should begin shortly thereafter.

SKB has also announced plans early in the year to add about 150 residential condominiums to the site, although no timetable has been set.

The 225,000-square-foot, 13-acre Trolley Square complex, comprised of old trolley barns in use until 1945, reopened as a shopping center in 1973. Tenants include Banana Republic, Hard Rock Cafe, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.

SKB has transacted more than $790 million of investment real estate and provided equity for almost $900 million of new development over the past 18 months.