It’s true. The 31,500 square feet of retail to be built at the base of the Transbay Block 8 development includes 22,000 square feet of underground space for a full-service grocery store at the corner of Folsom and Fremont.
And Whole Foods has indeed expressed their interest in being the ones allowed to run the store.
With a groundbreaking slated for the spring of 2016, and an estimated three to four year construction period, the first Transbay District grocery grocery will likely open in 2019, with or without Whole Foods in charge of the space.
Would rather see a Trade Joes in the sub level , 🙂
Seriously. There is a Whole Foods 5 blocks away from this location.
Those are long blocks. It’s 0.7 miles to be exact (1.4 round trip). For a lot of people it means the difference between driving and walking.
nice! perfect store for this location. I love WF!
2019!!! Only 20 years after people starting moving into the area – that’s progress
Always with the whole foods
Whole Foods does very well here; they would be insane not to express interest smack in the middle of high density housing. Also, nothing is stopping Safeway, Albertson’s, or anyone else from expressing interest.
22,000 square feet of underground space for a full-service grocery store
Can a full-service grocery store fit in 22,000 sq ft? Apparently the typical suburban Whole Foods, which ranges between 55,000 and 65,000 sq ft, must offer triple-service.
Maybe I’m wrong…the Franklin St store is listed at 28,000 sq ft.
perfect size though for a Trader Joes
Whole Foods Haight and Noe Valley are both smaller than Pac Heights. In my opinion Whole Foods packs a lot more diversity into their smaller stores than a similarly-sized Trader Joe’s.
WF? WTF!
Columbus Circle WF in NYC has 40k sqft and it’s pretty well packed and lots of space. 22k should be fine for a SF store. Looking fwd to hearing more details of what will fill the space.
The Lincoln Park Whole Foods in Chicago is 75,000 square feet and is still very crowded. At least they put the store at street level with cafes, seating and a pedestrian park and put the parking up on the roof.
All you people complaining about Whole Foods or the size of the store (and I’m sure parking will be next) are experts are letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
So where are all of these lower income folks in the affordable housing projects (which this [development includes]) supposed to shop? $20/ lb. cheeses at the Ferry Building? $30/ lb. rack of lamb at Whole Foods?
They will continue to shop wherever they shop now. It would be ridiculous to put a Grocery Outlet (or similar) in a location where only a minority of units are “affordable”.
Sameness was never a San Francisco value. It isn’t now, either. This is what the dullards of the SF Family, Inc. don’t get. People who move here to shop at Whole Foods don’t really live here. They barely even sleep here. They need to go away.
Please tell us what percentage of SF’s population “move[d] here to shop at Whole Foods.” I’m curious what the numbers are.
FAIRWAY MARKET!!!!!!!
Good lord. For months people on here have complained about lack of retail, and especially grocery, in eastern SoMa / South Beach. Developer proposes a Whole Foods, and it’s rant, cry, complain. FTLOG, get over yourselves. If you have a better idea and/or the money to implement one, go ahead. Otherwise, be glad that something’s being proposed that’s going to improve the status quo.
(And I really don’t understand all the Trader Joe’s adoration; all the produce I buy from there starts rotting within 36 hours, and the selection of many other items is abysmal. Don’t get me wrong, I love co-ops and such – Rainbow’s great – but TJ’s is a poor implementation of that model.)
I think Whole Foods in certain cities is like the second coming, but in SF it’s a bit stale. The inevitable whole foods. I mean, whatever, I never go to this area, and probably will never, but my preference would be for a place like Rainbow to move in. It’s a preference only myself and the readers of this site will ever know about.
Then Rainbow should express an interest in it; there’s nothing stopping them.
WF is a much better fit for this location and this clientele. Places like Rainbow and Berkeley Bowl have their charms, but WF is a much more easy, well-organized, and convenient shopping experience. I’m willing to (and do weekly) pay extra for that. I don’t think TJ’s is even in the same league — I don’t want my meat (or, often, organic produce) pre-packaged in Styrofoam and plastic wrap.
Finally, a grocery store the thousands of residents of this area will be able to *walk* to. Such a shame to have high density without the ability to walk for daily errands.
The breakneck speed with which SF evolves is ..well.. break neck. Opening in 2019! What’s the rush?
Implement BMR standard to accommodate Berkeley Bowl.
Trader Joe’s, please. Whole Foods prices are killing me. There’s a Whole Foods on 4th near Folsom already.
How about food for the non limo (or big bus) set.
How about a *gasp* farmer’s market supplying *shock* fresh food daily since we are located in *surprise* the agricultural capital of the world, supporting our *sigh* local economy and farmers rather than some Texas republican corporation with an agenda. Nah, can’t have that, must have access to canned eels at all times!
I find our local farmers market to be multiples more expensive than whole paycheck. Isnt the whole point of direct from farm, to eliminate the markup?
I always chuckle at the farmers’ market on Clement – you know, the one held in the street, along blocks including Chinese greengrocers’ storefronts… farmers’ market cherries, $6.50 to $8.00 / pound; grocers’ cherries, $2.50 / pound.
I shop at my local farmers markets and the produce is lots cheaper than any grocery store, and much fresher. I think it can be done, especially in an outdoor market that this development provides.
I’ve seen farmers’ markets have products grocery stores do not – local cheeses and honey, unusual vegetables – but for items stocked in stores, I haven’t seen items at farmers’ markets be cheaper since the 1990s.
Ha isn’t it from Austin? I mean yea Texas, but not Texas Texas
For all those who want a farm stand or a TJs, what any sane person would look for first is a place for the basics are consistent and easily available, something both of those lack. I like TJs too, but I don’t live on Cookie Butter and 18 types of hummus and no oregano (I once went there to buy ingredients and their spice section consisted of white pepper, wasabi, sea salt and ginger.)
The farm stand idea is particularly nuts because everything there would cost twice as much as WF, almost by definition.
And there is a farmer’s market a half mile away three times a week.
Then Safeway is clearly the better option as a general grocery. Whole Foods is still a specialty store.
No it isn’t. Other than big national chain brands (Coke, General Mills, etc.), there’s nothing you can get at Safeway that you can’t get (a much higher quality version of) at Whole Foods (in fact, the only things I buy at Safeway are diet coke and sometimes wine; 100% of my other grocery shopping is done at WF). And the people buying $3M condos in this neighborhood don’t need to scrimp and settle for Safeway’s crappy product.
I hope you live in this neighborhood and have a personal interest in this, given the amount of inexplicable griping you’re engaging in. To me, WF seems like plainly the most obvious and desirable option for this location. But if it makes you so upset, why don’t you start your own cheap, high-quality farmer’s market and pitch it to the developers; or just keep complaining on a real estate website comment board, whatever.
Yes. Well said.
Then get in your luxury sedan and jerk merge the whole 5 blocks to the WF on 4th St.
“or just keep complaining on a real estate website comment board, whatever.”
You must be new here! Because that’s all the comments section is.
Welcome to the party!
New Seasons (http://www.newseasonsmarket.com/) or New Leaf (http://www.newleaf.com/)! Better selection and quality than Tader Joe’s, cheaper than Whole Foods. This would be the perfect place for one in San Francisco.
The green “Whole Foods” indicator over the photo is on the wrong corner. Should be NE corner of Folsom and 1st, or even the closer to Fremont, not NW corner right? Doesn’t match the map next to it.
Doesn’t match this, is what I mean: https://socketsite.com/archives/2014/08/timing-details-starchitect-designed-transbay-district-tower.html