Homing in on vision for new Stonestown
Residences, stores, open space to replace mall
The plan to convert Stonestown Galleria from a shopping center to a bustling town center with thousands of new residents is coming into focus.
With the environmental impact report a few weeks away from publication — and the developer hoping to win approvals next year — property owner Brookfield has released new renderings and plans.
Much of the plan has not changed since the application was filed in September of last year. The plan still calls for 2,930 housing units, 6 acres of open space, and the reinvention of 20th Avenue as a pedestrian-oriented “main street” that will run along the current mall’s front door. The corridor will have small-scale retail and neighborhood office spaces below housing on the east side, while outdoor seating
from the mall restaurants will line the west side.
But after months of discussions with a neighborhood working group, new details have emerged. The parking lot on the backside of the property, closest to Lowell High School and Rolph Nicol Jr. Playground, will feature a town square, as well as a linear park about the size of South Park in San Francisco’s South of Market. There will be a dog park and children’s playground. The weekly farmers’ market, which currently uses the parking lot, will continue to set up there.
As envisioned, the new Stonestown will have 13 residential buildings. The tallest structures — three with 18 stories and one with 14 stories — will be clumped near San Francisco State University, on the southern end of the property. The majority of the buildings will be five to eight stories, with some three-story townhomes in the northwest quarter of the property, closest to Rolph Nicol Jr. Playground and the homes along Eucalyptus Drive.
Courtney Pash, senior director of development for Brookfield Properties, said the mix of uses — retail, recreation, housing, some small-scale office space — “will help provide stability to weather the next crisis or economic downturn.”
“New renderings bring to life ideas put forth by the community over the last three years showing details of proposed improvements, amenities and experiences,” Pash said. “Our plans apply lessons learned from the pandemic and the ever-changing retail landscape. Cities and neighborhoods with a mix of uses, not just office or retail, have proven to be more resilient in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
The latest iteration of the Stonestown proposal comes as San Francisco is finalizing its housing element, a state-mandated plan that will rezone large swaths of the city’s west side to accommodate 82,000 homes. The Stonestown redevelopment is the second-largest opportunity to add housing on the west side, after the already-approved Parkmerced, which has permits to add 5,700 units but has been stalled by lack of financing.
Pash said the Stonestown developer hopes to win approvals next summer and start infrastructure work in 2024. The phased redevelopment will take place over 15 years.
Mark Scardina, president of the Ingleside Terraces Homeowners Association, called the plan “community-centric.” Making 20th Avenue a one-way street with protected bike lanes and wide sidewalks will calm traffic and reduce accidents, particularly at Winston Street, which he called “one of the most dangerous intersections in San Francisco.”
“It’s a nightmare for pedestrians as well as cars,” he said.
Leslie French, a Monterey Heights homeowner, said some neighbors are skeptical about the plan, concerned about increased traffic and the new residents taking up the scarce parking spots on neighborhood streets.
“The west side of the city doesn’t like change — and I don’t like change either,” French said. “But in life change is the only constant. We need housing, and this is the place to do it. I predict in the long run people will love this project and be clamoring to live there.”
While Brookfield has settled on much of the site plan, the key, potentially controversial question is how many of the units will be affordable. In recent years, comparable large-scale redevelopments — including Mission Rock near Oracle Park, and Balboa Reservoir, a 17-acre parking lot by City College — have included 30% to 40% of units that are affordable to lowand moderate-income households.
Pash said the affordable housing plan, along with other public benefits, is being negotiated with the office of Mayor London Breed. She said that neighbors have made it clear they want senior housing, both market rate and deeply affordable, as well as workforce housing geared toward families.
Scardina said the west side neighborhoods are full of older folks who would love to downsize but stay in the area.
“We have a lot of seniors who are house rich and cash poor, and they have no place to go,” he said.
Like shopping centers around the country, Stonestown’s crop of anchor tenants has withered in recent years. Macy’s closed in 2018. The Nordstrom store shuttered the next year. The Gap left last summer.
Yet, compared with many shopping centers, Stonestown has weathered the storm well, signing a series of marquee leases as well as establishing itself as a niche for specialty Asian food outlets including Marugame Udon and the Japanese chain Gram Cafe & Pancakes. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have both opened, along with a Sports Basement and 11-screen movie theater.
Pash said the mall is doing well and the housing plan will only make it healthier. “We have a commitment to San Francisco, to the neighborhood, and this is the right place for housing,” she said. “We have opportunity to provide housing and also sustain the mall and keep the mall thriving into the future.”
So far, the only controversy that has emerged is whether Brookfield should save the single-story, 1970-era shuttered movie theater on the back side of the property, which some preservationists have argued is a rare San Francisco example of New Formalist architecture. Keeping the theater would mean sacrificing about 170 housing units.
Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents the neighborhoods around Stonestown, said she has not heard one constituent argue that the theater should be saved. She said she received little negative feedback on the project. “It’s been remarkably smooth sailing so far,” she said.