A footnote on the new Costco and light rail

When I posted about the new Costco coming to the inner-Loop location of Richmond and Weslayan, I wondered if its potential proximity to a light rail stop might affect their offerings in some way. This West U Examiner story gives a little hint about that:

Muddying plans for a time was uncertainty over whether Metro's University rail line would run by the property.

[Trammell Crow project manager Craig] Cheney lobbied U.S. Rep. John Culberson to oppose the project, which he said would have dictated a less profitable commercial concept and taken out oak trees along Richmond that the developers have committed to keep.

In the end, it didn't affect the project, Cheney said. "There's nothing suggested this far that would impact our plans," he said.

Doesn't sound too encouraging, does it? On the other hand, Trammell Crow is the builder, and I daresay he was doing that before the site was committed to being a Costco. So who knows?

In any event, none of the proposed alignments would place the route on Richmond west of Cummins, so it's now a moot issue. But it's still the case that this location may be very near a stop, and if so I still think it would be in Costco's interest to try to convince some of the thousand of people who'll pass it by every day to hop off and pay a visit as part of their trip. We'll see.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 05, 2007 to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles