Tag: 10546 SE Washington

Construction, New Business, Top 2025

99 Ranch Construction Resumes

After a long permitting and planning process, construction is beginning again on East Portland’s first 99 Ranch Market location at 10546 SE Washington Street. The highly anticipated Asian grocery store’s progress slowed after the property owner made exterior modifications to the storefront and installed new demising walls to create smaller storefronts flanking 99 Ranch’s entryway. The Plaza 205 buildout created a larger floor plan for the grocer at the back of the space while making room for complementary businesses along the shopping center’s frontage.

Since 1984, 99 Ranch has grown from its Westminster, California, origins to become one of the largest Asian grocery chains in the country. Store designs prioritize vibrant interior signage and constant display themes. Visitors can find an array of imported or domestic packaged food, freshly prepared dishes at the deli, and grocery staples that support most Asian culinary traditions. Since the company revealed this location’s planned opening in 2023, many Montavilla News readers have expressed their excitement for its arrival and have lamented the build schedule’s length.

Recently, crews began cutting trenches in the concrete floors to run electrical, water, and drain lines for the new food display and storage equipment. Workers are erecting metal stud walls separating the backroom operations from the large sales floor with its exposed wood-beam ceiling. Crews will polish and seal the concrete flooring throughout the store, adding a stone element that complements the darker color pallet used in many of the company’s grocery stores. When completed, this location will offer up to four sub-tenant spaces for restaurant and retail vendors within the entryway area. Each space has full-height walls between units, and 99 Ranch Market provides all utilities.

Eight standard conveyor-belt-fed registers and four self-checkout lanes near the front of the store separate the vendor area from the grocery operations. Along the west wall of the market, designers placed the hot deli, extensive meat department, and seafood area with live seafood tanks. Produce displays will occupy the frontmost half of the eastern edge of the store, and coolers will wrap around from the produce department’s east wall along the back wall.

Applicant Illustration of sign size increases included as part of LU 24-073292 showing 99 Ranch sign would increase from 60 SF to 150 SF

The Plaza 205 property owners adjusted the exterior design of the building to promote 99 Ranch Market as the anchor tenant, raising its entry arch to become taller than the adjacent parapets. This increased wall space allowed for a larger store sign but required a Design Review approval to allow the 99 Ranch Market sign to exceed the 100 square feet of maximum area per sign standard and increase the allowable sign sizes for the new tenants taking over the other retail areas around the grocery store. LU 24-073292‘s reviewing Staff Planner concluded, “The proposed signs are designed to be well integrated with the building as well as the neighborhood. The addition of signs identifying the building occupants will strengthen the relationship of the building with the neighborhood and enhance the visual interest of the streetscape while bringing a greater sense of identity to the area. The proposed signs do not produce a negative effect to the pedestrian environment in the adjacent sidewalk rights-of-way and adds visual interest to the building, both day and night.” The building sits over 300 feet back from the street, and the increased sign area should improve visibility for people passing the shopping center on SE Washington Street.

Crews will continue to work on this new grocery store over the coming months. Businesses interested in becoming a sub-tenant at this store can contact TAWA Leasing by calling 714-521-8899 or emailing leasing@tawa.com. Shoppers can expect to hear more about opening dates by following 99 Ranch’s social media or the company’s website.

Article and Photos by

Jacob Loeb

Note: Title image digitally edited by MV News to show 99 Ranch sign as originally proposed in permit drawings. Finale store signage will differ and include FRESH PRODUCE, LIVE SEAFOOD, HOT DELI, and BAKERY under the 99 Ranch Market logo based on LU 24-073292 DZM documents

Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.

Construction, Food and Drink, New Business

Plaza 205 Retail Revival

In 2022, a California-headquartered real estate investment and management company purchased the Plaza 205 retail complex east of Mall 205. For over a decade, the struggling retail destination at SE 103rd and Washington Street followed the shopping mall decline seen across the country with prolonged vacancies and empty parking lots. Since taking ownership, Red Mountain Group has leveraged its relationship with the Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch Market to become a new anchor store for this property. Many complimentary businesses have signed leases to fill most of the vacant space. The property owners have plans to expand the retail footprint by constructing sidewalk-accessible additions on the northern edge of the ample parking lot.

Storefronts at Plaza 205 awaiting tenant buildout. Post subdivision and 99 Ranch entrance updates

The 30-year-old Red Mountain Group owns just over 120 properties across 20 states, most of which are in Arizona and California. The privately owned company has an in-house group that works strategically to fill properties like Plaza 205 in various markets. “The leasing team that is working on this property is really the force behind it. They have a great relationship with 99 Ranch Market, and we have other properties where they have been our tenant. So with this property [we determined] that they would be a great tenant for it and partnered with them to revitalize the shopping center, bring in other tenants that would be great Co-tenants,” said Red Mountain Group representative Lisa Gray.

Portland Maps image with MV News illustrations. Red outline indicates Plaza 205 property

Earlier this year, crews divided the future 99 Ranch Market space to allow for the construction of three smaller storefronts sharing the grocery store’s frontage. This renovation allowed the anchor store to take over two spaces formerly used by Hometown Buffet and Office Max. The food retailer needed a significant footprint inside the store but only an modest entrance. That allowed for several shallow retail spaces at the front. However, shell construction delayed the speed at which new tenants could move in. Gray explained that Red Mountain Group’s leasing team often works ahead of acquisition to fill new properties. “Usually, we buy a property, and we can pre-lease. We really get leases done very quickly,” said Gray. In this case, most of the new stores moving into this shopping center will need to wait until early 2025 to open, and construction crews will take over a year before adding new structures at the complex.

Former Big Lots storefront at 10548 SE Washington Street, future location of Teso Life

Despite leasing delays due to buildout time, Red Mountain Group has secured tenants for all but one 2,401-square-foot retail space. Tea brand The Alley will take a space at 10542 SE Washington Street to the west of 99 Ranch Market at 10544 SE Washington Street. East of the grocery store, specialty restaurant chain Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle will open an eatery at 10546 SE Washington Street. Recently, Japanese department store Teso Life signed a lease for the 23,200 square foot former Big Lots location at 10548 SE Washington Street.

Inside 10548 SE Washington Street, future location of Teso Life

Having a high-profile tenant like 99 Ranch Market helped Red Mountain Group shift the direction of this shopping center away from decline and office tenants back to a growing retail segment. “We’re very excited about the future because of the tenants that are going in, including 99 Ranch. We have these concepts down [in California] where there is a great mix of tenants that are symbiotic; they really flow well with each other’s customer base,” explained Gray. Plaza 205 is the first Oregon property where Red Mountain Group applied that proven model. If it works well for them, they will look at repeating the process at other shopping centers in the area.

Homogenized big-box commerce is still on the decline across the country. However, culturally specific business clusters are rapidly filling that gap in American shopping centers. This shift presents an opportunity for retail landlords to rework investments with a greater variety of storefront sizes and to consider underserved communities when leasing. People should expect to see a more active shopping experience at Plaza 205 in 2025 as tenants complete their buildouts and customers start visiting these new businesses.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account or you can pay for a full year directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Food and Drink, New Business

99 Ranch Market Coming to SE Washington

99 Ranch Market will open its second Oregon supermarket near Mall 205 at 10546 SE Washington Street. The Pan-Asian grocery store has nearly 60 stores concentrated in California, with other locations spread across the country. The company is renowned for providing a wide range of imported products alongside local meats and vegetables. As with most stores in this chain, the new Montavilla adjacent location will offer prepared foods and baked goods made in an onsite kitchen.

Evidence of 99 Ranch Market’s impending Portland location surfaced in February through real estate flyers for space near this new supermarket. The listing agent for the property and store representatives would not confirm plans to open a store at this location until earlier this month when the company posted a coming soon banner above the future storefront. Although the new store will occupy a substantial portion of the building, it will cover less storefront space than the width of the shop. That leaves room for other smaller tenants near this grocery store’s entrance and will likely require an address change after crews erect new demising walls.

Portland Maps image with MV News illustrations

99 Ranch Market started in 1984 but only recently moved into Oregon. On August 23rd, 2017, they opened a Beaverton store at 8155 SW Hall Boulevard. That location proved popular, continually attracting Westside customers. Expanding across the Willamette River allows the company to tap into another cluster of shoppers. However, they face competition from similar stores with an established foothold in Portland. Montavilla has Hong Phat Food Center at the intersection of 82nd Avenue and E Burnside Street. Further south on SE 82nd Avenue, people can shop at Fubonn Shopping Center or Shun Fat Supermarket.

With many similar options within three miles of this new Asian grocery store, 99 Ranch Market must differentiate itself through selection, quality, and pricing. The Beaverton location offers a wide variety of food and kitchen items, some not available from the established stores in the area, but there are overlapping in-store offerings. The success of this new grocery store will take years to determine, but local residents have already expressed excitement for this Portland expansion. City permit examiners are still reviewing the applications, pointing to an opening sometime in 2024. Expect to see more details about this location towards the end of the year.

Update January 23rd, 2024: The new Ranch 99 store is under construction.

Update February 23rd, 2025: Construction has resumed at the site.

Update June 24th, 2025: 99 Ranch Hiring for Midsummer Opening

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscribers or sponsors. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.