Aug. 8--Woodfield Station is full -- sort of -- with the decision of Market of Choice to expand its presence at south Eugene's rebuilt shopping center.

The upscale grocer has entered into an agreement with the center's owner to lease the last available storefront.

Market of Choice will sublease a little over a third of the 11,300-square-foot space to a yet-to-be-determined retail tenant, and will convert the remainder for use as the grocery chain's corporate offices and as additional backroom storage space for its nearby store.

"We actually were contemplating putting in a mezzanine in the back room (of the existing Market of Choice store) when this came up," company president Rick Wright said Thursday. "This is a better use of the space."

A building permit was issued July 30 for the tenant infill project that is valued at just over $200,000, according to Eugene Planning and Development Department records. Wright said construction will begin soon.

Wright's Foodliner, the parent company to Market of Choice, will move into its new offices just after the first of the year, he said. Its offices are currently located in a company-owned office building at 25th Avenue and Portland Street.

The additional grocery storage space is expected to be available for the neighboring Market of Choice store by this year's holiday season.

"We're probably going to put a refrigerator and freezer -- walk-ins -- back there," said Wright, who envisions moving groceries by forklift across a small parking lot that separates his new space from the existing store.

"The stuff we're going to have in there is the type of thing we need to store up for weekends and our busiest days," he said. "We're just busting at the seams now."

Market of Choice opened its 42,000-square-foot flagship store at Woodfield Station in December 2006.

The building and hardware cost about $7 million, and Wright said Thursday that its craftsman architecture, upscale amenities and broad selection of organic and conventional groceries have proved popular with south Eugene shoppers.

The grocery store is already the largest and most dominant tenant at Woodfield Station, which has undergone a three-phase renovation that began in 2004.

Other major tenants include Rite Aid, OfficeMax, Big 5 sporting goods and Party City.

The shopping center, built in 1968 and originally called Willamette Plaza, has been owned since 1972 by the real estate arm of Standard Insurance.

Market of Choice has four locations in Eugene and single stores in Portland, West Linn and Ashland, but has no immediate plans for adding new stores.

"It's really a good time to be doing nothing," Wright said, referring to the uncertain economic conditions that have spread across the country.

A tenant has not yet been found for the 4,300-foot retail space that will be carved out of the larger storefront being leased by Market of Choice, he said.

The available space will be at the front of the building, next door to OfficeMax and across a driveway and courtyard from a strip of shops that includes Asado Grill and the Supreme Bean coffee shop.

"Part of the problem with the (overall) space prior to this for Standard, is that it was too large," Wright said. "I'm taking most of the back of the space, so (the remaining storefront) will be a lot more leasable."

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