After the QFC at Northwest 58th and 24th Avenue Northwest is rebuilt it will be double its current size and have six stories of residential units above it.

Ground is expected to break before the end of March and the grocery store will be closed for more than a year, said Jeanne Muir, a publicist representing the project developers, Security Properties.

The entire project is expected to last about 18 months after groundbreaking, but it is possible QFC could move back in before the residential units are completed, said Muir.

Muir hopes to ease any community concern about lack of a grocery store in the immediate neighborhood.

"We're trying to make sure the store can say open as long as possible," said Muir. "Then we are focused on trying to get the grocery up and running for the residents of Ballard."

The store's 60 employees will work in other Seattle locations for the duration of the project, said Cindy Rantanen, senior director of loyalty and advertising for the grocery chain.

"They will certainly be taken care of," said Rantanen. "We have plenty of openings."

QFC is a division of Kroger, one of the nation's largest grocery retailers. There are 19 QFC stores in Seattle and three in the Ballard/Crown Hill neighborhoods.

The new building will have 268 apartments; about half will be one-bedroom units and one-quarter of the apartments will be studios. There will also be and 15 town homes as well as some two-bedroom units.

Rental rates have not yet been determined and Muir could not confirm the total cost of the project.

Seven of the town homes will face Ballard Commons Park. The other eight will face north towards other residential properties on 58th Avenue Northwest. This design is based on community preference in the Ballard Municipal Center master plan crafted in 2000, said Muir.

The town homes will be set back about 10 feet from the pedestrian pathway on the west side of the park with decks and landscaping. There will be no residential entry on the park side.

"It will create more of a front yard feel," said Muir. "The idea is all eyes on the park."

Because of a grade differential from the southwest corner to the northeast corner of the property, the QFC and the townhouses can both be at ground level. The grocery store will be visible on the entire west side of the property and extend around the corner on 57th.

That intersection has been undergoing major redevelopment in the last year. Metropole and NoMa condominiums on 57th and 24th, and a new residential building slated for the corner of 58th will bring more than 400 new housing units and thousands of square feet in retail space in the next few years.

Muir noted that the development could replenish a need for rental units in Ballard since that market has shrunk as more apartment complexes and older homes have been redeveloped into condos.

The total footprint of the project will be a little more than 45,000 square feet. The current QFC building is about 25,000 square feet.

The residential over grocery design is not typical due to the complexities of wiring and plumbing associated with both kinds of tenants, said Muir.

"It's a fairly new concept to have residential over grocery," she said. "It's a complicated puzzle...it isn't done that often."

Groceries require a wide variety of mechanical items such as exhaust hoods, grease traps and refrigeration. But when hundreds of people live on the roof, complications arise about where to put those items, said Muir.

Security Properties also built Epicenter, which stacks 128 apartments on top of PCC Natural Markets, in the heart of the dense Fremont neighborhood.

About 450 residential and commercial parking spaces will be located underground, as well as trash compactors and all grocery related deliveries. Commercial traffic will enter on the south side of the building and residential on the north.

A small retail outlet is planned for the southeast corner of the lot facing Ballard Commons Park and skate bowl. The space has not yet been leased, but the developers hope to have a caf/ or restaurant there.

"It's envisioned to be a transparent outdoor friendly area," said Muir.

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