Costco Wholesale has bought a big chunk of land in southeast Redmond, signaling that a long-delayed project to build a warehouse there could be moving forward after six years.
King County records on Friday showed two parcels totaling 15.4 acres, in an area south of Union HIll Road, were sold to Costco on July 27 for $16 million.
Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti confirmed that purchase on Friday but didn’t provide further detail.
A spokeswoman for the city of Redmond said it had received a permit application from Costco, but declined further comment. The city’s planning department didn’t immediately provide records.
The land purchase is the latest move in a long but unfulfilled flirtation between the warehouse club giant and the Eastside city.
In 1991, Costco spent $12.55 million on a site near the end of SR 520, but three years later it dropped plans to open a warehouse and move its headquarters there. In 2009, as the recession raged, the Redmond city council approved plans for a warehouse on the site Costco purchased last week.
But a deal for the vacant property was not concluded until now.
The property is at Northeast 76th Street and 188th Avenue. It’s across the street from a gravel pit, and is surrounded by industrial, office and retail locations. To the west is a retail cluster that contains Target, Home Depot, Kohl’s and Whole Foods Market stores.