Auto Zone wasted no time in getting underway with the construction of their store. They'll be pouring the concrete foundation soon.

Auto Zone takes shape at Murray/Cornell
by Virginia Bruce

Last October, we wrote about the difficulties that property owner Richard Meyers was having in getting approval for the development of the parcel at the southwest corner of Murray and Cornell. Beaverton had annexed the road and was asking him to annex the property into the city to gain access to the storm sewer.*

In an interesting twist, it turned out that the sewer hookup was not in the section of road that Beaverton had annexed, but was actually in the piece of land that Meyer had donated to the county for the widening of Murray, so the city couldn't demand the annexation after all. That paved the way for approval of the project in January, and building permits were issued in early February.

Meyers had mentioned that the company was getting so fed up with the various regulatory delays, they were close to pulling out of the deal. According to Auto Zone representative Ray Pohlman, "This store, which is slated to open mid-June, will be a typical AutoZone store. It will offer loan-a-tool, free testing, and a customer can order on-line and pick up in-store."

Entrance to the store will be at the northwest corner, with doors on Cornell and into the parking lot on the east side

Parking will be behind the store on the east and south sides of the building. The exterior will be two stories tall, as required by our Town Center ordinance, but there will be no second floor.

Pohlman says, "This store will hire about ten AutoZoners, seven full-time and three part-time. A manager has not been named."

The nearest Auto Zone is in Aloha, about four miles away. Pohlman notes, "We have a rather rigorous process whereby we locate and develop store locations. The trade area for this new store is chock-full of out-of-warranty vehicles, five years old and older, which is our sweet spot. 85% of AutoZone's business is retail, catering to the do-it-yourselfer."

We look forward to welcoming this new business into the community, and we hope that they'll join the Business Association and participate in the community in other ways.

*NOTE: Oregon Communities for a Voice in Annexation (ocva.org) is now taking aim against this type of "hostage annexation." Several bills are currently being considered in the legislature (HB 2945, 3056, 3144).

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