Ocean Beach Safeway Redevelopment Will Add 526 New Homes

The Facts

Safeway’s Outer Richmond store at 850 La Playa Street, the neighborhood’s only full‑service grocery, is slated for a temporary closure while Safeway and developer Align Real Estate pursue a major overhaul of the 3.3‑acre site. The one‑story store and surface parking lot would be replaced by two eight‑story buildings containing 526 rental homes, a larger 59,000‑square‑foot Safeway, and new parking for residents and shoppers. Of those homes, 68 would be reserved for low‑ and very‑low‑income households. Safeway says all current employees will keep their jobs and that on‑site employment will grow by about one‑third once the new store opens, according to reporting by Laura Waxmann at the Chronicle.

The Context

Under current zoning, the maximum height at 850 La Playa is 40 feet (about four stories). Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed Family Zoning plan would rezone the site to 65 feet as part of a citywide push to allow more homes in high‑opportunity west‑side neighborhoods. But Align is relying on state density‑bonus laws to go to about 85 feet and secure ministerial, by‑right approval in exchange for on‑site affordable units, effectively bypassing much of local discretionary control even as Supervisor Connie Chan tries to carve 850 La Playa and other Outer Richmond parcels out of the Family Zoning map and layer on extra review.

The GrowSF Take

Turning a waterfront parking lot into hundreds of homes over a bigger grocery store is exactly the kind of trade San Francisco needs. This project adds badly needed housing, including income‑restricted homes, in a transit‑served, high‑amenity area while keeping and growing a key neighborhood supermarket. The state’s by‑right density tools are doing what local process has failed to do for decades: unlock west‑side housing without endless hearings. City Hall should support this, ensure reasonable plans to maintain grocery access during construction, resist attempts to pile on new red tape, and move it to approval as quickly as possible.