It was as if Seaside won a trip to Disney World in summer 2008, when the city announced Fresh & Easy was coming to the City Center shopping complex on Broadway Avenue and Fremont Boulevard.

Officials enthused about it. Online forums buzzed. Most agreed the mainstream grocery chain, described as something between Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, was sorely needed in a city with only niche ethnic markets.

But by summer 2009, the store wasn’t even close to its expected groundbreaking. At the time, city staff said the constipated economy was slowing progress. Now, it’s uncertain whether the project will be built at all.

Despite green lights from city planners and City Center landlord The Orosco Group, Fresh & Easy still hasn’t waived the contingencies on its lease, according to developer Patrick Orosco.

“Since February of last year we’ve had no substantive feedback from them as to what their plan is,” he says. “The house, so to speak, remains in escrow.”

Seaside isn’t the only city affected: British grocer Tesco Corp. is stalling Fresh & Easy’s expansion from its SoCal base. “We don’t have an announced timeframe at this point,” spokesman Brendan Wonnacott says.

But Orosco sees signs of life. Fresh & Easy recently revived a deal to open a store in Tulare, he says, and has scheduled a review of the Seaside site for later this month. “It’s possible they’ll say, ‘We’re still not ready,’ but it’s positive that they’re at least addressing it.”

Five years after the city sold the 4-acre shopping complex for less than a third of its 2002 purchase price, the City Center is still mostly vacant. But a new dental office and art gallery are helping to enliven the space.

Meanwhile, city officials hope for more bites on the West Broadway Urban Village redevelopment plan. “Nothing is moving quickly,” says Assistant City Manager Jill Anderson. “Because of this economy, unfortunately, there is no urgency.”