Gelson’s Market aims to open a pocket supermarket below a 37-unit apartment complex planned for Toluca Lake, a few blocks from the historic Bob’s Big Boy restaurant.
An entity linked to Bar Development has won a construction permit to build the 10,000-square-foot market within a four-story complex at 10057-10067 Riverside Drive, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It will replace a former U.S. post office and some commercial storefronts.
The smaller-than-normal Gelson would be topped by 37 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The developer, using Transit Oriented Communities incentives, will build more units than zoning rules allow in exchange for setting aside four affordable apartments for extremely low-income households.
The Encino-based market chain with 27 upscale markets from Santa Barbara to San Diego will pilot its new small format in the former east San Fernando Valley enclave of Bob Hope. Gelson’s, founded in 1951, is now owned by Tokyo-based Pan Pacific International Holdings, which acquired it in 2021 for an undisclosed price.
The new pocket market will differ because of its location on a busy commercial corridor within Toluca Lake, according to Urbanize.
Plans call for multiple service areas, including a walk-up window for breakfast and coffee in the morning, tables and chairs for lunch goers next to an open kitchen, and a 22-seat indoor-outdoor wine and tapas bar, from late afternoon to early evening.
“We are energized by the possibilities with the Toluca Lake space to create something dynamic for the neighborhood,” John Bagan, CEO of Gelson’s, said in a statement.
“We see this small format store as a testing ground to prove out new concepts and to be agile and highly relevant in how we approach the Gelson’s food experience,” he said. “We have been fortunate to have a great development partner who is creating a mixed-use space that will be embraced by the community.”
The rounded corner building, designed by OfficeUntitled of Culver City, will be sheathed in white stucco and wood, with vertical windows and a corner rooftop terrace.
State business records list two Bar Development firms as having been suspended. It’s not clear if Bar Construction and Development, based in Fairfax and led by Asher Peretz, is involved with the project.
The mixed-use supermarket concept is similar to a plan to build a Costco store in a six-story apartment building in Baldwin Hills, topped by 800 homes.
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