A more than decade-long wait for Fred Meyer in Maple Valley will soon come to an end.

“It’s going to open on May 24, which is earlier than we originally anticipated,” said Fred Meyer spokeswoman Melinda Merrill in a phone interview. “We’re really excited about that.”

Fred Meyer will be the anchor store in the Maple Valley Town Square development under construction in Four Corners. Its footprint will be 187,000 square feet, Merrill said, and cost $30 million to build.

Maple Valley Town Square is located on the northeast corner of state Route 169 and Kent Kangley Road.

It’s been quite a journey for Fred Meyer, the city of Maple Valley and Powell Development, which has worked with the company and city officials to bring Maple Valley Town Square to life.

Until 2009, the city limited retail stores to 60,000 square feet, which eliminated most big box type businesses. Early in 2009 the Maple Valley City Council passed an ordinance that would allow for footprints of up to 100,000 square and over that with conditions.

Peter Powell, president of Powell Development, has been working with John Morris and his family. Morris owns the property and runs TRM Wood Products from the site. TRM recently completed work on its new building which has been moved east on the property toward Summit-Landsburg Road.

At a groundbreaking for Town Square in April 2011, Powell told spectators that it had been a long process, nearly seven years at that point to put in a Fred Meyer that he referred to as a “lifestyle center.”

Merrill said the store won’t look like the big white box found in Covington’s downtown core and will carry different products.

“It’s going to be a full line Fred Meyer store, so, there will be tenants around it. It will be like a walkable village,” Merrill said on Feb. 3. “It won’t just be our store. And it will offer a really high quality line of products. It will have gourmet cheeses and olives, a lot of natural and organic foods. It will look different than a regular Fred Meyer and it will fit into the community better. It will be like no other Fred Meyer that you guys have in that area.”

Fred Meyer officials are pleased to prepared to open up here.

“We’re just thrilled,” Merrill said. “We love opening a new store. We’re thrilled to open in Maple Valley and serve the residents there.”

The store will bring 160 net new jobs, Merrill said, and the store will have about 220 total employees. The store director, Eric Georgia, was recently selected.

“One additional cool item, it will have a pharmacy walk-up window,” Merrill said. “We have begun installing these at a couple of our stores and they’ve been very popular. You park, walk up to the window for your prescription, don’t have to go into the store if you don’t need to.”

Merrill added that the Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce and the city of Maple Valley “have been great to work with.”

In addition to Fred Meyer, there will be a number of other businesses in buildings surrounding the anchor including Pinnacle Physical Therapy, Smile Brands, BECU, Chase Bank, Sprint, Burger King, Desert Sun and Super Supplements.

In addition, some other companies from the region have signed leases including The Spot Coffee, a nail salon called Tip Toe Paradise Nails as well as a yogurt shop called The Nutty Squirrel.

There will also be a pair of sit-down casual dining spots called Hop Jacks and Farrelli’s Pizza.

Lauren Powell, director of leasing for Bellevue-based Powell Development, told the Reporter in November Maple Valley Town Square was between 85 percent and 90 percent leased at that time.