San Francisco Safeway Stores Face Possible Redevelopment

Four Safeway stores in San Francisco are poised for mixed-use redevelopment projects, but that number could grow in the coming months.

Safeway and developer Align Real Estate could possibly take up plans to convert three more Safeway-owned sites in the Inner Richmond, Outer Sunset and Sunnyside neighborhoods, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Over the past two months, Safeway and Align have submitted plans to redevelop the grocer’s four largest pieces of property in San Francisco. One proposal calls for 1,800 apartments at the 3.6-acre Safeway site in the Fillmore District; another outlines 366 homes at the Bernal Heights Safeway location, as well as 532 units at the Outer Richmond Safeway. Last week, Safeway and Align filed plans for 790 apartments at the Safeway site in the Marina District.

Those aren’t all the Safeways in the city that could be redeveloped into mixed-use properties, according to the Business Times. Safeway, headquartered across the Bay in Pleasanton, also has stores on a 1.2-acre site at 735 7th Avenue in the Inner Richmond; another 1.2-acre site at 2350 Noriega Street in the Outer Sunset; and a 0.8-acre site at 625 Monterey Boulevard in Sunnyside. The company also owns a handful of small parcels making up part of the surface parking lot for its store at 2020 Market Street.

Whether the grocer, which is part of Idaho-based Albertsons Companies, plans to pursue similar residential-above-grocery projects at those sites remains to be seen.

“Safeway is constantly evaluating locations to better serve the neighborhoods of which we are part and to provide customers with a convenient, modern shopping experience that meets their needs,” the company told the Business Times regarding the redevelopment of other stores in the future.

With 3,488 units already planned, Align has largely reached its goal of putting 3,500 apartments into San Francisco’s housing stock at a time when the city needs it. San Francisco is mandated by the state to build 82,069 new units by 2031 under its housing element. As more tech and artificial intelligence workers flock to the city, demand for apartments and rent prices have been on the rise. — Chris Malone Méndez