Whole Foods moves forward on S. F. store
Whole Foods says it is going forward with plans to put a store in the old Lombardi Sports building on Polk Street, despite Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s introduction of legislation that would ban chain stores on the commercial corridor.
Last week, Peskin introduced legislation that would prohibit formula retail in the Polk Street Neighborhood Commercial District, a lively, mile- long strip that serves Nob Hill, Russian Hill and Pacific Heights. The restriction — which needs approval from the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors — would be similar to bans in place in Hayes Valley, North Beach and Chinatown.
Peskin said that he had planned on pushing for the chain store prohibition on Polk Street later this year, but the pending lease with
Whole Foods at Polk and Jackson streets prompted him to act sooner.
He said he is not against chain grocery stores but believes they don’t belong on Polk Street, but rather on Van Ness Avenue, which is already home to chains like Guitar Center, Staples, T- Mobile, BevMo and Sleep Train.
“Polk Street is more of a neighborhood commercial corridor — there are plenty of opportunities for Whole Foods on Van Ness,” he said.
In December, Whole Foods signed a lease with Village Properties to open a 19,000- square- foot outlet at 1600 Jackson, the Lombardi site. The store would not be a typical Whole Foods, but rather a “365 by Whole Foods,” a new concept the high- end grocery chain is rolling out in eight markets. Whole Foods is billing its 365 stores as smaller and more affordable that the full- blown stores.
Whole Foods said the concept has received enough support that it’s worth persevering.
“We believe the community should decide what retail serves them,” Whole Foods spokeswoman Beth Krauss said in a statement. “From the beginning of the ( conditional use) process we’ve been gathering community feedback on the proposed 365 by Whole Foods Market project. So far, the response has been largely positive. We will continue that dialogue with residents over the coming weeks.”
Housing opposed
The idea of the 365 store represents the third scheme proposed for the building, which became vacant in 2014 when Lombardi closed. Initially, Village Properties filed an application to construct 62 housing units, but that plan was shelved after some neighbors balked.
Next, Target had hoped to open a store there, but that was quickly scuttled after widespread opposition. During the discussions over the proposed Target, residents made it clear that they would prefer a grocery store, said Village Properties President Rob Isackson.
Moe Jamil, president of the Polk Street Neighborhood Association, said Polk Street should embrace its historic independent businesses like Swan Oyster Depot. He stressed that Polk Street is about to undergo a face- lift with wider sidewalks, new bikes lanes and a sewer system replacement. The construction will be tough on local merchants, and adding Whole Foods 365 into the mix could further hurt smaller vendors like Cheese Plus and the Jug Shop, he said.
Neighborhood backers
“The business are going to be challenged to the max,” he said. “We don’t want a situation where two years later we have tumbleweeds rolling down Polk Street and a Chipotle or Starbucks going in to pick up the slack.”
But the store has its neighborhood supporters. The idea of a more affordable Whole Foods within walking distance would be a huge convenience, said Sharon Solomon, who shops in the neighborhood with her mother, Claire Blume, a four- decade resident of Green Street.
“We want healthy choices,” said Soloman. “We were ecstatic when we found out about the Whole Foods 365. For us it’s a no- brainer.”
Under the current zoning, formula retail establishments — defined as having 11 or more locations — have to obtain a conditional use permit, which can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors. Isackson argues that the current conditional use process would hardly be a cakewalk for Whole Foods and offers opponents plenty of opportunities to shoot down the proposal. “It will be a rocky road at best,” he said.
Peskin said he supports “the original proposal” to build 62 units of housing, arguing that right now “our biggest imperative is to build housing.”
Battle no matter what
“It’s not exactly like Polk Street is a food desert — if this was Crocker Amazon it would be a different story,” Peskin said.
Isackson said he is resigned to the fact that it’s going to be a battle no matter what he proposes.
“It’s impossible to make everybody happy — the people on Nob Hill and Russian Hill don’t want a six- story apartment building,” Isackson said. “If you stopped the average person on the street, how many of them would be against having a Whole Foods in their neighborhood? I think not too many.”