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While many businesses are vacating Downtown Seattle and moving elsewhere, PCC Community Markets is moving into Rainier Tower — the location the local grocer left in January.

The organic grocery chain announced Friday it’s returning to the high-profile 58-story building at 1320 Fourth Avenue with a new concept store and corporate offices.

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“We continue to hear – from co-op members, our staff, and downtown residents – about a strong need in the city center for the kind of unique shopping and dining experience that only PCC offers,” Krish Srinivasan, PCC’s President & CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We are thrilled to be able to meet that need by returning with a new concept that promises significantly better economics than a full-service grocery store.”

Downtown Seattle averaged more than 90,000 workers per weekday last month — just 62% of the traffic seen in July 2019, according to the  (DSA).

“PCC returning to Rainier Square is very welcome news for people who visit, work and live in downtown,” DSA President & CEO Jon Scholes told ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. “With a record residential population and more workers coming back to downtown, these types of retailers are additive to the vibrancy of downtown.”

While PCC closed its full-service grocery store at this location earlier this year, the grocery chain was still contractually obligated to its long-term lease obligation. So PCC created a small format food market, only 6,500 square feet, with a focus on fresh meals for downtown office workers and residents.

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The rest of the space will be for its headquarters, currently located in the 3131 Elliott Avenue office building. PCC announced it will not renew its Elliot Avenue lease when it expires in 2025, citing issues with cost, size and location of the space.

PCC operates 15 stores in the Puget Sound area.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.