Trader Joe's to Bethlehem?

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With possibility of Trader Joe's coming to Bethlehem, traffic is major concern, Benderson Development won't say if popular grocer is coming to Glenmont Plaza, but town planners are preparing for "regional" shopping destination increasing traffic: https://www.timesunion.com/business/...ly%20headlines

"All signs appear to be indicating that Trader Joe's is seriously considering putting a new store at Glenmont Plaza, located at one of the busiest commercial sections in town.

Although neither Trader Joe's nor the shopping plaza's owner, Benderson Development, will actually come out and say that's the case, Bethlehem town planners aren't waiting for it to become official.

If Trader Joe's is indeed the mystery tenant that is behind Benderson Development's plan for a new 14,755-square foot grocery store at Glenmont Plaza, town officials don't want to be surprised when the announcement is finally made.

In fact, Bethlehem's planning department is already treating the proposed project, which would need approval from the town's planning board, as if it were indeed Trader Joe's, not a typical grocery store.

That's because Trader Joe's, with its legion of devoted fans, relatively cheap and unique food items, isn't just a grocery store local residents run into on the way home from work to get milk and items for dinner.

Rather, Trader Joe's is a regional shopping destination that draws consumers from adjoining communities that will more than likely change existing traffic patterns in what is already perhaps the busiest commercial area in town.

"There is a rumor going around on social media that this is a potential Trader Joe's site," Robert Leslie, Bethlehem's director of planning and economic development, said during a meeting Thursday at town hall with Matthew Oates, director of engineering for Benderson Development out of Buffalo.

Oates was presenting plans for the new grocery store to the town's development planning committee, an informal group of town department heads, including Leslie, that reviews plans for significant construction projects before they go before the planning or zoning boards.

Oates would not say if the rumor was true, although the Times Union and others have pointed out that the specifications for the store and the layout of the parking and store entrance closely mirrors most Trader Joe's locations, which are much smaller than the average supermarket or even niche grocery stores like Whole Foods, Fresh Market or Aldi, which is owned by the same company that owns Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's first arrived in the Capital Region more than 10 years ago on Wolf Road in Colonie. A Halfmoon location in Saratoga County has since been built.

"Right now, we don't have any tenant signed," Oates said, refusing to reveal the name of the store.

But Benderson is willing to make drastic changes at Glenmont Plaza, with plans to demolish a whole section of the strip mall, nearly 20,000-square feet in all, to make room for a 51-car parking lot along Route 9W that would serve the grocery store.

That would mean that the Dollar Store and Five Below would have to leave or be relocated to another part of the property to make way for Trader Joe's.

Leslie said traffic flow in and around the store will be a major focus. Glenmont Plaza is located at the intersection of Route 9W and Feura Bush Road amid a bevy of large retailers like Walmart, Lowe's and Market 32 and chain restaurants like Chipotle and Panaera.

"Traffic circulation is going to be critical here," Leslie told Oates, asking that he obtain traffic estimates for a "regional" shopping destination rather than just a neighborhood supermarket.

Others who attended the meeting noted that the current car entrance from Route 9W closest to where the grocery store would be located may have to be reconfigured so that traffic doesn't back up as cars attempt to enter the plaza and then turn left into the store parking lot. Such sights are not uncommon on Wolf Road, where the Trader Joe's parking lot is often at capacity during peak times.

A couple that lives on Feura Bush Road across the street from Glenmont Plaza and attended Thursday's meeting said they were worried because Benderson is also planning to add a new restaurant to the plaza next to the Jersey Mike's and Moe's, which are located in the middle of the parking lot.

Tracey Marshman, who attended the meeting with her husband Robert, said traffic is the worst in that area on Saturday mornings, and she often witnesses crashes and pedestrians getting hit by cars from her house.

"This is a traffic nightmare," Marshman said. "It has to be fixed."