Updates on South Lake Tahoe's Bijou Marketplace

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Bijou Marketplace in South Lake Tahoe is starting to take shape with the first business, Chase Bank, open and serving the public. Panda Express will most likely be the next to open.

Also confirmed for spaces with plans submitted and approved are Whole Foods and Hub Coffee, with a nail salon and Five Guys currently in plan review.

See the layout in the photo above and below are the confirmed businesses with applications on file going into the spaces:

3600 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building A Unit 100 – Whole Foods
3600 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building A Unit 200 – Hub Coffee
3600 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building B
3620 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building C – Chase Bank
3640 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building A Unit 100
3640 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building A Unit 200
3640 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building A Unit 300 – Nail Salon- Application has been submitted and currently in plan review, permit has not been issued
3640 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building A Unit 400 – Panda Express
3640 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building B Unit 100 – Five Guys- Application has been submitted and currently in plan review, permit has not been issued
3640 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Building B Unit 200

All spaces without a name adjacent to them may have leases signed with Halferty Development, the builder of the project, but there have been no applications requested or plans submitted to the City of South Lake Tahoe.

Since Whole Foods announced the end of the 365 brand, many in the Tahoe area have been wondering what would happen to their project in South Lake Tahoe. Amazon, the new parent company of Whole Foods, found their ability to lower prices in the traditional Whole Foods stores allowed them to end the 365 store brand which was designed to attract a population that appreciated both the store and lower prices.

It is anticipated Whole Foods will re-brand the South Lake Tahoe location to full-service. South Tahoe Now has made numerous phone calls and sent many emails to the Whole Foods to find out their local plans and as of March 9, 2019, there has been no contact. They have a 20-year lease on the property with six five-year options for extensions.

"We did receive from the general contractor minor modifications to the building related to isles and shelving," said the City's Director of Development Services Kevin Fabino in a memo. "While preparing this memorandum, staff contacted the developer who reported that they are meeting with Whole Foods early next week, and will be able to provide a revised construction schedule and potentially an announcement of their opening plans."

As is the case with many shopping centers and stores, the 28,000-square-foot building that will hold Whole Foods was listed for sale with a $14M price tag in November, 2018. It is no longer on the market but is expected to be listed again once the store type is announced.

One source who chose not to be identified said that while Whole Foods 365 planned to be open by May 2019, the new version of the store should be open in late summer, 2019.

It was rumored that Chipotle Mexican Grill was going to take one of the vacant spaces and staff at their Carson City store confirmed one of their managers was going to take the helm in South Lake Tahoe, but that is currently not the case. Rachel Wu with Chipotle said at this point, they do not have a planned location in South Lake Tahoe.