Albertson Companies and Align Real Estate, have filed formal permits for a six story, 379-unit housing complex on the site currently occupied by the Safeway at 3550 Mission St., at 30th Street, according to documents filed last week with the San Francisco Planning Department.
It’s the fourth proposal to transform the city’s existing Safeways — which tend to be one story high, with larger-than-average parking lots — into multi-story housing. The others include 850 La Playa St. in the Outer Richmond (562 units), 1335 Webster St. (1800) and 15 Marina Blvd. in the Marina District (800). Preliminary permits for the Bernal, Outer Richmond, and Fillmore projects were filed last November.
As with the others, this proposal takes advantage of the state’s density bonus law and SB 330 to streamline permitting, making it a ministerial project that will not require a hearing at the Planning Commission. In order to qualify for streamlined permitting, 20 percent of a new development’s units have to be affordable — in this case, that means that 76 units will be reserved for those making 50 to 80 percent of the area median income (currently between $56,750 and $90,750 for a single person household, or $72,950 and $116,700 for a family of three).
According to the proposal, a new Safeway will occupy the 55,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space once construction is finished. There will be 137 parking spaces for the grocery store, and another 154 parking spaces for residents, along with room for 286 bicycles.
So far, all the projects have faced community pushback for a variety of reasons, ranging from concerns over the worsening of traffic to the loss of grocery stores in these neighborhoods.
Mayor Daniel Lurie and District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill have criticized the Marina Safeway project because it was submitted before the mayor’s zoning plan, which passed in December and would have reduced the size of the building allowed on that site, went into effect.
Stephen Torres, the president of the Bernal Heights Democratic Club, said he’s heard concerns from club members since the news broke about the proposal.
“The initial reaction a lot of folks had was a little bit of concern and skepticism because a lot of the focus of upzoning and the state density bonus has been portrayed as increasing access to affordable housing,” said Torres. “But, only 76 out of the 375 proposed units are affordable. This is a small percentage.”
Torres said club members also worry about the length of the Safeway’s closure and the small number of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units for families.
Currently, the plans include 65 studios, 185 one-bedroom units, 89 two-bedroom units and 40 three-bedroom units.
Brandon Powell, the Bay Area organizing director at YIMBY Action, was thrilled at the news.
“We are extremely excited about this project. Bernal has not been part of the housing story in San Francisco for almost a generation now,” Powell said.
“We’re proud to be investing in the future of Bernal Heights, bringing hundreds of new homes – including 76 affordable homes – to the neighborhood, alongside a brand new Safeway. These new homes and grocery store will be a wonderful addition to an already vibrant neighborhood.” read a statement from David Balducci, the principal at Align Real Estate.
The office of District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder did not respond to a request for comment.
The estimated cost of the project, which is designed by Perry Architect, is $170 million, according to the project’s application.
There is no official timeline for the project as of yet and no scheduled date for the Bernal Safeway to close. Currently, the permitting process for a housing project takes about a year.
