“A controversial plan almost a decade in the making to open a Home Depot store on San Francisco’s Bayshore Boulevard has been scuttled because of the flagging home-improvement market, company officials said today.”
∙ Controversial plan for S.F. Home Depot falls apart [SFGate]
∙ The First Physical Sign (Quite Literally) Of Home Depot Development [SocketSite]
That sucks.
Since you can practically walk to the Daly City one from here, I don’t see what a big loss this is.
*sigh*
I was so dreaming about not having to make that long drive to Colma… about seeing my sales tax dollars go to my own city…
And were it not for all the delays caused by our Stupervisors and others, it would have happened a long time ago.
Now the blight will remain.
Never mind the lost investment, jobs and sales tax revenue, or the extra gas you have to burn driving down to Daly City, the “big loss” is that this area will remain a wasteland of underutilized real estate for at least another decade. Love or hate Home Depot, this is a blow to the development of the neighborhood and the city.
I was just looking in that area on Sunday and the agent was talking about how this would change that strip. It’s too bad, that area really needed a big shop.
It’s just business as usual in SF. The question I always ask myself is: what is the proposed alternative to Home Depot? Another decade or two or decay and rot or do they have something in mind (and if so, who is going to pay for it?).
Just saying ‘no’ to every development proposal that comes along without having an economically viable alternative shouldn’t be allowed.
Along similar lines, Fresh & Easy’s plans to move into some less up market areas of SF also look to be in trouble:
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/03/10/daily47.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/tesco-puts-brakes-us-expansion/story.aspx?guid=%7B2EA5FC73%2DFEF7%2D42A8%2D891F%2D4C03010514E9%7D
That area is a disaster. So many vacant lots and blighted buildings that could be used to house new residents and businesses. It seems that now, with the loss of HD, it will remain so for a long time. There will be an ongoing fight for 2 decades only to resolve with a bland row of 3 story stucco boxes. Well at least there is late night dining spots like Jack in the Box to maintain a little life off Bayshore.
I have to admit I’m surprised.
Housing downturn or no, SF city proper is one of the few places on Earth that could support another Home Depot.
I guess that just proves the theory from “Field of Dreams” (I mean nightmares):
If you make it impossible, they won’t come
CONGRATULATIONS to all the Bernal heights oppnents who proved that to delay is as good as to kill a project, and you dont have to take as bad a public rap for doing so.
i hope all the Bayview HP folks who will now lose out on 300 jobs are gratified that cortland avenue will not be sullied by anyone shortcutting to home depot.
maybe now one cortland boutique will hire a person of color?
nice job folks. of putting yourselves first.
First the Armory, then the UC Laguna Campus, now Home Depot – blight and decay wins in a landslide!
well, there is plenty of space there for a porn….errr….FILM studio. this is a silly city.
I think anyone (whether in support or not) who insinuates that the Bernal people are responsible and can somehow take credit… well.. they’re idiots.
Blaming the process to develop in the City, OTOH, has merit. As does blaming market forces. In this case, a down market means that HD doesn’t want to play SF’s reindeer games anymore. Honestly….good for them.
Sorry, PN, but Bernal organizations and individuals (championed by Bernal resident Ammiano) led the fight against Home Depot. Of course they were ably assisted by chain-hating self styled progressives across the city.
And now, as has been pointed out above, our greener than thou city will need to drive to Colma to get building materials, increasing our “carbon footprint” AND losing local sales tax.
Aside from the truly miserable Discount Builders, I don’t know of a single other place to buy building materials in the city.
So because they pushed to fight they can lay claim? HD was approved. The decision to pull the plug was there. Market forces won, not Bernal. (And yes I recognize how they can be equated.)
Plenty of other sources (there are lumber yards all over the place) but most people won’t use them because they’re not big and pretty. Worse – you may have to pick up a wet 2×4 in the rain. Similarly, there are plenty of plumbing, electrical and design stores to buy all that other stuff. But people won’t use them – they want one-stop shopping.
Personally, I don’t care that HD won’t be there. But I’m bummed just the same – I think the City could use the revenue. I think the “300 jobs” is a sales pitch. But Bayshore needs fixing.
Ugh… .
The decision to pull the plug was there.
Should read The decision to pull the plug was theirs (meaning HD).
Lowe’s?
I’ll take your point PN, of course the decision was ultimately HD’s. Arguably, HD would’ve been in years ago though if there hadn’t been so much opposition. Now we’re missing an entire economic cycle. So, as many others have pointed out…delaying tactics can be seen as the same as defeat, at least in this case.
Where can you buy lawn sprinkler supplies in the city? Sure, Flowercraft has some drip irrigation products. But Discount Builders doesn’t carry that stuff.
There are lumber yards all over the city – but if you’re just a random person off the street, you’ll pay a pretty high price. You need a contractors license and an account to get a good, discounted price.
The “Bernal Residents” that opposed the Home Depot were really the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center (BHNC) which also publishes the only Bernal Heights newspaper – oh and guess what? BHNC is a “low income” housing developer who wants to profit from building low income housing (sold to the city at more than market rates) in the proposed Home Depot location. No conflict of interest there…
Rusty Hodge:
http://www.urbanfarmerstore.com/
Tell them you’re a contractor and you’ll get a discount. They don’t ask for an ID. I had my license with me and they still didn’t want to see it. Way better than HD for sprinkler stuff.
Oh, and lest I forget the ever-growing list of derelict sites where nothing ever gets built – there’s still the string of lots along the old Central Freeway route from Market to Golden Gate, still vacant 19 years after Loma Prieta! By comparison, the Home Depot site is still a young ‘un. Nothing like a city that moves forward…
Remember what was there before? A mom and pop Home Depot named Goodman’s Lumber. I dunno. I can see both sides of this, and yeah, the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center fought the good fight. (What they saw as the good fight anyway.) Delay caused scrutiny and scrutiny cancelled the project. Those guys have got to be feeling good right now. But back to the original point. As much as many of us, self included, would like to see the HD there, why did Goodman’s pick up stakes in the first place? Those halcyon days of yore, when the same store called something else couldn’t support itself? and failed?
Hmm, The city is saying how “green” it is. Well, here’s a good one, everyone who currently shops at Home Depot has to drive to it (either Colma or Emeryville) How “green” is that? Not very.
This is a classic example of what can happen to a city when the planning/approval process can be hijacked by a few stupid [most usually] renters. Another is that crazy lady on Folsom Street that is keeping the Hole in the Wall from moving. What kind of a stupid, crazy city allows itself to be dictated to by stupid people with to much time on their hands……San Francisco.
What I would like to know is WHY the process can be hijacked by ONE single person?
Why does a city of 864k (thank you for undercounting mr census) listen to ONE PERSON.
We regret to inform you that San Francisco is closing.
May we recommend a U Turn right now — and head to Lowe’s in S. San Francisco or Home Depot in Colma.
Goodman’s didn’t close because of lack of business – it closed due to family infighting.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0VCW/is_9_26/ai_63541014
SF sucks (sometimes).
We squeeze companies willing to invest here—on employee ratios and “fairness” initiatives…for a DECADE…until they give up. So we keep the blighted Bayshore corridor. Great job Board of Supervisors.
After reading the history of Goodman’s closing, I’m kind of glad it is still sitting vacant. Serves the property owner right, assuming it wasn’t sold since then.
huh. Thank you for that link, laurel. What a shame.
Sigh….
Hey,
I’ve worked at the Armory, and you know what? They are making lots of improvements and employing quite a few people doing so (along with contractors etc… who are fixing it up inside/outside)
Who cares what you do inside of your own property? I don’t see anyone being hurt by the activities of an adult film studio in the neighborhood… the only people I’ve seen being hurt are the needle addicts on the sidewalk outside begging that I give them some cash while the needle hangs out of their arm.
Holy cow, I’ve never seen so many panties in a bunch. The fact that Home Depot is not opening on Bayshore means NOTHING for global warming. Really, when people start saying “global warming” for everything, you’re just creating a boogieman–“War on Terror” anyone? I’m a contractor and I promise you that contractors do not need Home Depot in the City. I’m also a regular schmuck, and I promise you that regular schmucks do not go to Home Depot on a regular basis–once a year, tops–think about it. In fact, when things like Home Depot open, it creates a market where none existed before, actually increasing traffic. People who make due without a Home Depot right now will suddenly feel like they NEED to go to Home Depot. Kinda like IKEA–before they arrived in Emeryville, I never really cared to spend an afternoon walking around like cattle to buy a $2 spatula and $20 coffee tables, but once they arrived, they created a market and got me to drive out there too many times for no good reason. Wait, do you guys want an IKEA here too? If some lame-o progs fight IKEA, does that also mean SF is closed-for-business? Like Detroit?
This is San Franicsco, people. People older than myself fought the freeways. Good, I’m glad they did. The oldies also fought the skyscrapers. I’m kinda “eh” on that one. And now some people fight the box stores. I’m kinda glad they are. I don’t know if that makes me anti-business or if that makes you a, what do they call it? Oh yes, a CoCo County resident. Zing!
I guess I’ll always be the guy that’ll look curiously at the box stores and wonder, “How the hell did we let THAT in here?”
I really can’t believe what I’m reading here from commenters, which ignores at least a couple decades’ worth of research and evidence that big boxes muscle their way into town, put the little guys out of business, and then shutter the stores leaving a ghost town all around when they find a better location down the road or the economy tanks. There is massive risk to everyone in such monopolistic and oligopolistic situations.
This whole fiasco just further emphasizes this reality:
First of all, had HD actually opened its SF store, they would now be in a position of closing it or the Colma store. Sorry Colma — you’re screwed. But hey, we live in SF, we don’t give a damn about you.
The whole attitude that we should be trying to absorb tax base into “our” city at the expense of others, is the whole problem to begin with. That’s the mentality of the suburbs which try to squeeze one more mega-power-center within their borders in a race for limited and finite tax base, and the big boxes just hop from one to the other wherever to chase the latest tax breaks, abandoning their old stores along the way.
HD clearly doesn’t have the resources or market at this time to keep both a Colma and SF store open. Had they actually opened the store faster, they’d have to shutter one now. Or even worse — they would have torn down the existing structures and not finished construction, and would abandon a partially built or vacant lot. How wonderful!
I’m not a huge fan of big box stores but they are the reality. Another reality is San Francisco is an itty bitty little city. This might have a meaning in Chicago but really Colma and Daly City are right there for most residents. So apparently SF residents alone spend 40 million per year at the Home Depot in Colma. Colma HD is one very busy. Likely it is not the locals going there as they are mostly corpses
Anyhow I see there is a new Lowe’s being built right off Oyster Point in South City. Tough for our little fiefdom to fight market forces
And why can’t we get a Target in SF? I need some cheap crap
Here we go again. Our Supervisors are totally WORTHLESS! A big box Home Depot in North Beach, no way, but in this blighted industrial zone? YES! When will this nonsense end?