Align Clears Hurdle to Force City’s Hand on Safeway Housing Plan

Align Real Estate cleared a major hurdle in its bid to remake one of San Francisco’s most controversial grocery sites into housing.

The developer behind the Marina District Safeway redevelopment has secured labor agreements with San Francisco’s powerful building trades, a move that brings its 25-story, 790-unit proposal one step closer to approval under a state streamlining law, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The deal positions Align to formally file the project under AB 2011, a California statute designed to fast-track housing on commercial sites in exchange for strict labor and environmental standards.

The project would replace the decades-old Safeway at 15 Marina Boulevard with a new grocery store topped by nearly 800 apartments, including about 86 affordable units.

The scale has fueled fierce opposition from Mayor Daniel Lurie, Supervisor Stephen Sherrill and neighborhood activists. Critics argue the tower far exceeds local zoning and clashes with the mayor’s newly adopted “Family Zoning” plan, which seeks to guide growth in historically low-density neighborhoods like the Marina.

Align counters that state housing laws trump local rules. By locking in union backing from the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and the NorCal Carpenters Union, the developer can invoke AB 2011’s accelerated approval timeline, potentially forcing the city to sign off within months rather than years. The law was written explicitly to sidestep protracted local fights that have stalled housing production across San Francisco.

The Marina proposal is just one pilot piece of a broader bet.

Align and Safeway have floated similar mixed-use redevelopments at four major grocery sites citywide, totaling roughly 3,500 apartments, with additional locations under consideration. The push has made Safeway-owned land a new front line in San Francisco’s housing wars.

Still, uncertainty looms. Align has not disclosed financing details or a construction timeline, and city officials have signaled they plan to scrutinize the project closely, despite the state law’s limits on local discretion.

— Judah Duke