Comments on: Pleasant Valley Safeway & Longs community meetings

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:47:12 +0000

In your negotiations everybody feels like they lost. I prefer discussions where everybody can feel like they win. You build far better relationships that way.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:48:49 +0000

The Safeway is a couple blocks from the one time El Rey movie theater for many years now a church. As I haven’t been to the model train shop there in most of a year, can’t say as of today. As to a 20 year old precedent, I believe it IS relevant as evidence that it has been done and thus can again.
The point in any event is that NOTHING prevents the city of Oakland from insisting on different designs for the land parcels in question. As in any negotiations, the style is ask for way more than is reasonable so that you can ‘give up’ parts of the design and still build what you want.. Likewise as citizens we ask for way better than think is realistic so that we can also be seen as compromising but get a seriously improved project.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:01:07 +0000

Yesterday, in need of plants and gardening stuff, I visited the ACE Hardware Garden Center on Grand Avenue, thinking that with Long’s closing, I’d better get used to going somewhere else for potting soil, mulch, and plants. It was OK, but nothing compared to Longs. Since I didn’t find what I was looking for, I went to Longs afterall, and of course found the variety and quality to be excellent. It made me all the more sad to think we are losing this wonderful garden center. If Safeway and the plaza’s owners were smart, they’d get Sloat Garden Center or another local nursery to commit to this remodel project. That would keep the shopping traffic going there and increase the value and quality of the other stores.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:24:33 +0000

20 years ago has no relationship to current development of stores or housing. I had thought you meant a more relevant, recent example.

As far as I know there is no Safeway on Ocean in SF, you must be mixing it up with another chain or location.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:14:35 +0000

On ocean Avenue in SF there is a Safeway w/housing above built iiRC circa 20 years ago. Heading out Ocean, it is on the right side perhaps a mile from City College

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:56:24 +0000

david, do you have specifics where Safeway has built housing? it has been proposed many times but I have not heard of one being actually built. The housing management is a nonissue, that is not Safeway’s concern. But there are two legal entities involed, Safeway and landowner, and an existing lease between them. So if housing is diesired, it may take the city to step in and force it.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:42:56 +0000

Safeway HAS built stores whousing–and who owns the land iud irrelevazny, a management company can oversee the housing no matter who is the paper owner of the dirt. The Longs store is the least of my concerns.This is an opportunity for oakland to repair a mistake. i am fine w/ the Saffeway being all the way in back. the important details are cleaning up the excess parking closest to the undersized sidewalks, gettimg AC to loop through the new center, and having rgw stores FACW the streets.

Oh, and one more issue, AlLjobs in the center covenanted–no auto commuting to from work, employers must give transit passes to all..

By: DS

DS — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:27:56 +0000

wow, i am surprised to hear so many negative/naive comments on what looks to be a much needed overhaul of an outdated center. I agree with PRE and fear all this will slow things down. Especially the Longs issue.

1. Long’s. I know everyone loves Longs, so do i, but it is a complete retail anomaly that will never be replicated. Besides the amazing variety the interior is beat. CVS will change it regardless. Not Safeway! They cant dictate what CVS does.

2. Housing. It seems clear that Safeway does not own the land and has no capability to develop and manage housing. Sending them a letter or asking the city to “get involved” is not going to change their basic business model.

3. Parking/Pedestrian Issue. There has to be parking. And if there will be more stores they will need more parking. However the rooftop parking will help keep it out of the way. the ped walk way along the reservoir looks good as does all the cross walks with islands in them.

I agree there could be a few more tweaks but lets help the process not hinder it.

By: len raphael

len raphael — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:43:41 +0000

about 20 years ago, i recall that safeway did a sale leaseback of most of its real estate. if that’s what they did for Bway PV site, it makes sense that the land owners would not want any housing on the site. smaller investors who do clean triple net leases of strip malls would not want the hassles of being residential landlords.

I agree with many of John G’s points, including that housing would be desirable.

Odd to hear some participants in this discuss state that the government should pressure the owner into becoming a residential landlord while previously taking a position in the rest of North Oakland that the government shouldn’t interfer in the free market decisions about highest and best use ie. re height.

But that’s the past. We all worked together well on Kaiser 49th and can work together on this too.

What leverage do we have to get changes in the plans?

-len raphael

By: artemis

artemis — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:05:32 +0000

Just to answer David’s question, the recent for massive investment in both stores is that Safeway is “lifestyling” all of its stores (theoretically by 2010 but that seems unlikely at this point!)—so basically once they made a commitment to keep both stores, they made a commitment to do the renovations. All of the other East Bay Safeways that haven’t already been remodeled are going or are about to go through similar processes. (So people interested in this conceptually should keep an eye on notices for some of the other stores with lots of potential for total revisioning—the Solano and Shattuck stores in Berkeley come immediately to mind, since both are on major commercial corridors but use the same suburban model that the Pleasant Valley store does.)

By: Eric Fischer

Eric Fischer — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:07:23 +0000

I was just over at Safeway and they have signs up to notify the public of the preparation of an environmental impact report. A photo of the sign: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/3664438742/

The public hearing over the scope of the EIR is July 15. The sign also gives notice that they want to modify nearby streets (“including additional vehicle travel lanes and/or turn lanes”) even though Pleasant Valley and Broadway are already excessively wide.

By: Karen Hester

Karen Hester — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:00:27 +0000

I went to the meeting last night and it was pretty much the same story as what sounded like happened Tues night–the set up was just “speaking with Safeway reps.” Lots of folks were upset about the proposed design and I spoke to Ayako Mie who was there covering the stoty for Oakland North blog. George Skinner was back to hound Safeway reps ans other folks from STAND were there as well. It’s crazy but there is no real pedestrain or bike access shown on the drawings although Safeway says it will be bike and pedestrian friendly–go figure.

Safeway insists it can’t build housing cuz it doesn’t own the property but I later thought it seems kinda like a bogus argument considering all the housing that’s going up on the MacArthur BART lot which will still be owned by BART. Not sure but assume there’s a creative way to get the City involved if Safeway were committed to building residential. I got about 5 new names of foks who want to get on ULTRA’s yahoo group.

By: Oh Pleeze

Oh Pleeze — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:39:32 +0000

Farewell to one of the best midsized local nurseries in the area. I always counted on Longs/Payless for plants that fit local heartiness profiles, and had adequate stock on hand, and reasonably priced amendments/mulch/accessories/acoutrements and a staff (often Merritt Hort students) that actually knew what the business and stock they were selling.

Besides, it really was a terrific spot for those middle of the night must haves–ranging from groceries to cough syrup to a sink plunger.

By: L. Atwood

L. Atwood — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:11:20 +0000

Amen to Mr. Gatewood’s specific, professional, and elegant suggestions. While reasoned discussion is good, specific proposals are better. Thank you, John Gatewood!

By: Eric Fischer

Eric Fischer — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:11:05 +0000

The only thing I can add to that is that it also should be a condition of occupancy that the door to the street be kept unlocked during business hours. Otherwise storekeepers are likely to lock and ignore the street door and make everyone walk through the parking lot anyway.