While the ribbon cutting ceremony isn’t until next week, the new Trader Joe’s at 1401 California and Hyde has opened its doors. A CVS Pharmacy will join the redevelopment of the former Cala Foods in early 2013. And there’s currently no queue for parking. Yet.
∙ 1401 California: Trader Joe’s And CVS Authorization This Week
∙ From Cala To Condos To Trader Joe’s At 1401 California [SocketSite]
Hooray!
Looks like facade was mostly left alone.
That parking lot is such a depressing waste of space. Really wish TJ’s would have moved into the originally planned location on Van Ness and this would have been torn down and redeveloped as 6-8 stories of housing/ground floor retail.
Seriously! a drive in surface parking lot in the middle of the densest part of all of San Francisco.
Should have been disallowed on principle!
I, for one, am very happy with the final results. Not every lot and every corner in the city has to be overdeveloped with ugly housing over retail space with underground parking. Every time I pass by that monstrosity on top of Albertson’s on Fulton and Masonic, I thank my lucky stars they stopped that from happening to the Whole Foods on Stanyan and the one on 24th Street. Hooray for keeping somethings the same and upgrading them.
Don’t really care personally, but it seems so hypocritical that some formula retail is OK in SF and others not. Don’t people realize that TJ is part of Aldi, and the owners are evil billionaire 0.0001%ers?
As much as I liked the proposed condo dev, I love the 50’s touch of this building & glad it continues on. As for the parking lot, it could be made much more pleasant by landscaping — bamboo/trees, etc. so that it isn’t painfully blank. I wonder if this opening will reduce the jam in the other TJs, or if it’s just a different customer base. It’s generally a bad experience shopping in any TJs jammed aisles filled with workers stocking product during prime hours. Wholly unpleasant. Most of the time.
Awesome for property values for Russian Hill, Nob Hill, and the edges of Pacific Heights!
Congrats everyone!
@94114
The Lucky’s building (hasn’t been Albertsons since something like 2007-8) isn’t the only possibility, the Falleti’s structure is much more aesthetically pleasing.
I’d still take the current Lucky’s structure over a one story grocery and parking lot. Way better the way it is, but even that has many examples with much better architecture.
It was a lost opportunity that they didn’t turn the Whole Foods location into a multi-story mixed use.
The Cala Foods had a very seedy clientele because of its proximity to the Tenderloin. I wonder if that will continue?
Invented – if you like the 50’s look of the building now, you should have seen it before CALA renovated it in the 90’s. Check out the movie “Petulia” for the scene where Julie Christie shops there, or look on line for an old photo.
And Jlasf, who are you calling seedy? I spotted Herb Caen there one night around 11pm, picking up supplies and greeting folks warmly as he went through the checkout.