Thursday, October 1, 2026
A desire to expand its footprint in the city of Tumwater has Costco Wholesale on a path to develop a new location in the southwest part of town.
Costco representatives met with the Development Review Committee last week to go over a preliminary site plan for a proposed 160,000-square-foot, one-story warehouse and free-standing fuel facility with a canopy.
“Obviously this would be a relocation of our existing location in Tumwater,” said Brian Whelan of Costco at the meeting, which took place on December 3 via Zoom.
He said the move is being driven, in part, by a need for more parking than Costco has at its existing location at 5500 Littlerock Road SW. The site plan calls for 931, 10-foot wide parking stalls, as well as ten accessible stalls.
The proposed building would be located on roughly 25 acres at the southwest corner of Interstate 5 and Tumwater Boulevard. The back of the proposed building would face Prine Drive SW.
Costco plans to purchase the property for the new location, which would be part of a larger overall project, said Tumwater Community Development Director Mike Matlock.
He said the overall plan calls for a mixed-use development on a total of 57 acres with several sites for smaller commercial spaces, as well as scores of multi-family residential units.
The mixed-use development was referenced multiple times during the December 3 meeting, which was led by Alex Baruch, an associate planner with the city of Tumwater.
He went through a detailed analysis of the site plan, which included parking requirements, landscaping items, bike parking and walking paths before giving way to his colleagues for further scrutiny of the site plan.
“This is great info. We have to obviously digest,” said Whelan moments before the afternoon meeting wrapped up.
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gypsydjango
What happens to the current location?
Monday, December 9, 2024 Report this
BobJacobs
I don't know what COSTCO management is thinking, but this increase of less than 20% in store size is way too little. The current store is beyond crowded much of the time. A new store just a bit larger will be over-full very quickly.
Bob Jacobs, long-time COSTCO fan.
Monday, December 9, 2024 Report this
DavidAlbert
Did anyone ask why so small?
Monday, December 9, 2024 Report this
Southsoundguy
And ruin a quiet residential area. That plus the 1100 unit dormitories on the other side of the road will make for a great area to live.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Report this
Porter
The old costco will be a mega church, spirit halloween, or an amazon distro.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Report this
JW
It's about time. The current Costco is basically impossible to shop at in November and December due to the parking lot.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Report this
52237123abc
The beautiful trees are already being bulldozed on this property in preparation. So sad.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Report this
Southsoundguy
Take a look at the Kent Valley, that is our future under the current paradigm.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Report this
TheVirtualOne
To BobJacobs - the change in location is more about parking, traffic flow, and congestion issues, not the store size. The new location will increase parking by about 50%, from 600+ to 900+ spaces. I don’t know this for a fact, but I would speculate the gas pumps will also be setup better so they don’t impede traffic flow as much. The current setup in Tumwater is a nightmare, as you have already mentioned.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 Report this