Cordata Store

Project Photos

Check out our photo gallery of progress at the jobsite.

In early 2009, the Community Food Co-op will proudly open the doors of a second store, located in the Cordata neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington. The Co-op purchased property for the store in 2005 and broke ground in December 2007. Our general contractor, Pearson Construction, has a great reputation for efficient, timely, and environmentally sensitive building practices. To see our progress, you can check out the photo gallery of the jobsite every month.

The Cordata store will have similar features as our existing store on Forest Street, and slightly larger. After an extensive member-input process, architect James Williams designed a building that will meet standards for a silver LEED certification. LEED (Leadership on Energy and Environmental Design) is a program developed in 1998 by the U.S. Green Building Council that helps define what makes a building green. LEED certification includes five main categories: sustainable sites, water resources, energy and atmospheres, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

Key features of our building include:

• Two stories high, with 17,663 feet on the main floor and 3,613 square feet on the upper floor, connected by stairs and an elevator.
• A community meeting room upstairs with a kitchen, for meetings and classes.
• A deli with plenty of seating both inside and outside the store, plus food to “grab and go.”
• A kids play area and a private room for nursing mothers.
• Benches around the store allowing people to sit down.
• A large produce department featuring locally grown food.
• A beautiful, welcoming atmosphere with local art and lots of natural light.

The landscaping around the building was also important to our members, so the landscaping design will include:

• Vegetation in a variety of shades and sizes that provide color and a feeling of winsome abundance throughout the year.
• Plant species well-adapted to our area and able to withstand wet and drought.
• Native trees and shrubs that provide food and water for wildlife. Twenty-four of the species we will use produce berries, apples, or hips.
• The landscape design was created to be as allergy-free as possible, with a low pollen count.

The Cordata Store will be a great asset to our community, helping more people access the food they want, through an organization that is owned by its members. As a member of the Community Food Co-op, you are the foundation of the effort to bring more healthy sustainably produced food to this community. The Cordata store is a big step forward, and as always, your questions and ideas are very much appreciated. Email us at secondstore@communityfood.coop.

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