SocketSite™

Isn't this what good zoning laws should prevent? Or is everything just "mixed use" so anything goes?

Umm, actually, zoning laws in the city encourage this - it's called higher density construction for an urban area. Typically supermarkets have about half of their site covered in parking and the other half has only a one story building so they are significantly underutilized sites where you can typically go up four stories with 75%+ coverage of a site. The 50,000 square foot+ single story supermarket with parking is going away as the profitability of such a large space is significantly lower on a price per square foot basis in the city, but you're getting more boutique oriented food sellers in their place so you just have to shop at a couple of different places instead of an all in one location. Food oriented companies are not going to completely leave the city starving - there is just too much money to be made.

The SFGate article fails to mention that the developer of the Cala Foods site is planning on having a GROCERY STORE as its ground floor retail tenant. The article even talks to Delano's, who is one of the companies that the developer has reached out to for interest in the grocery store site.

The main problem of the last few years has been that Kroger decided that SF was not something they wanted to deal with, so they sold some stores to Delano's and operate only a few now that they are trying to sell (the Cala on Hyde, the Cala on S Van Ness, and the Cala on Silver). Delano's didn't want the Bell Market on Post, and it wasn't a site that Kroger could sell, so they simply closed the store. The Kroger business just happened to coincide with Albertsons closing a few stores and then selling their Nor Cal operations to Save Mart.

Plenty of Trader Joe's opening in the next few years, and Safeway is investing heavily in their stores here.

I completely agree with the above posts. Outside some of our poorer areas (Bayview) this is largely a non-issue and nothing more than C.W. Nevius concocting yet another "crisis" (i.e. story) for his benefit.

Is there any truth to the rumor that Whole Foods is moving into the old Ford dealership on Market and Dolores?

I heard it might be Trader Joe's for the old Ford dealership.

This should be the case with the WAMU's as well, when they become WF. I call dibs on the WF branch on west portal (since they will take the WAMU in this case 'cause it's much nicer).

Can't wait for the sad Mission Safeway (btw 29th & 30th) to be mixed use!

Didn't Castro NIMBY's fight off a possible Trader Joes at Market and Sanchez in 2005-6? I think part of what they were concerned about was the possible increase in traffic. (another example of San Franciscan's acting more like residents of Carmel & Santa Barbara than New York or Chicago) I would be surprised if the privately held chain were to risk another battle trying to expand into the same neighborhood at the old Ford Dealership, but who knows? It sure would be great if they were to expand there imho.

"Can't wait for the sad Mission Safeway (btw 29th & 30th) to be mixed use!"

Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center (BHNC) tried to convince Safeway to let them build an affordable housing complex there (with city funds), with a new larger Safeway on the ground floor. Safeway said no. On the other hand, BHNC got the city to stop the construction of a Lucky's supermarket on the southeast corner of Mission and Cesar Chavez, then got the city to give BHNC the money to buy the land, where they built Bernal Gateway. BHNC claimed the Lucky's supermarket was too big for the neighborhood.

Whether Bernal needs more food shopping or less, BHNC argues, depends on whether the answer will result in a place for BHNC to get city money to build affordable housing.

mission & ceasar chavez is very mission centric(sic) not merely Bernal Centric--
major supermarket would have engaged Mission Safeway nearest to Cesar Chavez as well as independents on adjacent boulevards.
puts one in a quandary