Plans to develop a four-story building, with 12 condos over two commercial spaces and a 12-car garage, upon the Cherin’s parking lot parcel on the southeast corner of Valencia and 18th Streets were approved back in 1981 but subsequently abandoned.

Last year, Pristine Parking, which leases and operates the parking lot when the adjacent Cherin’s Appliance store is closed, began subleasing space to a couple of food trucks, including San Francisco Organic Antique Ice Cream, the Juice Shop, and Senior Sisig.

And plans to convert the existing shed on the rear of the site into a “bonafide eating place,” add permanent outdoor seating between the shed and 18th Street, and allow beer and wine sales are now in the works.

As envisioned, the front portion of the parking lot would remain open for Cherin’s customers during business hours, but the bonafide eating place would operate seven days a week, with extra tables and permitted food trucks parked in the rest of the parking lot after-hours.

And yesterday, San Francisco’s Zoning Administrator formally determined that the use of the 701 Valencia Street site would be permitted as proposed, assuming some administrative issues with the current operation of the parking lot (which has been tagged for operating as a commercial parking lot without proper authorization) are first resolved.

The parcel is zoned for development up to 55 feet in height.

19 thoughts on “Plans to Convert Parking Lot into an Eating (and Drinking) Place”
  1. I’m sure it goes without saying that this lot could be way, way more effectively utilized, but I’m excited it be used for anything other than 100% parking—at least for the short term. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long.

    1. Agree. Is the intent that this would be a “temporary activation” to put the space to better use while a building project spends years navigating City bureaucracy and neighborhood input? Or is this the “permanent plan” for the foreseeable future?

  2. While I fully support development and density in this urban neighborhood, it would be nice to have this as a open, low-slung indoor/outdoor dining and beer garden. It’s right in the middle of the action and would lend itself to a more diverse and vibrant street scene. A wall of perpetually empty retail spaces would be a disaster for this corner.

    1. Perpetual cold, windy weather in the city (including the Mission) makes outdoor dining and drinking unpleasant. See how the Vestry, El Techo, and even Zeitgeist are almost completely enclosed.

      1. many cities have year-round outdoor eating and drinking (and way worse weather—see Berlin, New York, Paris, etc.)…all it takes is some heat lamps and blankies.

          1. Why don’t you go ask them instead of making know-nothing statements on the internet?

  3. When anyone laments that it’s so hard to add more units in SF, I can’t help but think of the hundreds of surface lots like this one in extremely desirable areas that are helping keep housing prices over inflated.

  4. While my gut instinct is “build baby build” maybe this will develop into something along the lines of Hayes Valley’s open area.

  5. I think everyone living within a one mile radius of this project should get a $5000 gift certificate toward a relatively low-end Cherin’s appliance in exchange for their thumb’s up.

  6. So what’s the over/under on MEDA showing up to demand either a shakedown payment or protesting that the people running the food trucks are not representative of the “cultural heritage” of the Mission district & the project represents a “gentrification hegemony”?

  7. A Prius owners idea no doubt. These modern day hippies are wrecking this city. Stick to your Uber day job.

    1. The project sponsors are SF born/raised. Hardworking blue collar type. Get the fact strait before jumping strait to hating. Ignorance is what’s ruining this city.

  8. Formerly home to one of the neighborhood’s longest running fashion fences. Soon to be transformed into another boring, interchangeable ticky-tacky “luxury” condo mixed-use nothing.

  9. Transit oriented development in San Francisco means 12 parking spaces adjacent to a bicycle lane, within a block of 4 Muni lines and within two blocks of 16th BART. This kind of housing will only snarl traffic, Muni, bicycle lanes and reap profits for developers. It will do as much to lower housing prices as adding a drop of boiling water into a cup of ice water would appreciably raise its temperature. Because math.

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