New market project in store for Vons

by David Harvey
SDUN Reporter

Supermarket chain Vons submitted a proposal to the city on Jan. 14 for the construction of a store at its existing location on the corner of Washington and Dove streets in Hillcrest.

The podium-style building, at an estimated cost of $20 million, would include ground level parking, an expanded market on the second level including the addition of a bakery and pharmacy, and several adjacent spaces for other businesses.

The project has been in the planning stages since 1995. A reconstruction model similar to the current version was approved in 1997, said Vons’ Vice President of Real Estate Brian Braaten, but because of delays – such as consideration of a joint-use residential concept – construction never advanced.

Officials from Safeway Inc., which owns Vons, worked with several developers on the residential addition. Over time, the plan changed from condos to apartments to senior housing. Then the real estate market collapsed in 2007.

“There was no market for residential housing and we sat there going, ‘Hey, all we want to do is build a grocery store’ and here we are, ten years later and back to square one,” Braaten said.

Braaten said he hopes to break ground in June and that construction, based on similar projects, should take roughly nine to 12 months. He said he hopes to open the store no later than Thanksgiving 2011.

However, Uptown Planners Chairman Leo Wilson said breaking ground in June is not feasible.

“There’s a process that they’re going through that has to be followed, and I know they’ve been in the works on this for quite a bit of last year, but they’ve got to set their timeframe with the realization that these steps of community review and planning take a lot of time,” Wilson said. “They’ll be lucky to get a start on construction by the latter part of 2010.”

The city likely won’t release its assessment of Vons’ application for at least 60 days, Wilson said. After that report is released, Uptown Planners can begin their formal review, which he estimated could take another two months.

If everything moves smoothly, Wilson said, the earliest Vons could begin construction likely would be in October.

Vons’ officials have given presentations to the Hillcrest and Mission Hills Town Councils, as well as to City Council representatives.
Braaten said in his Jan. 12 presentation to the Hillcrest Town Council that the Vons store now located on the property, which was built in the 1950s, is an embarrassment to the company and that they are eager open a new facility.

“It’s not cognizant of what we’re trying to portray in North America,” he said.

The proposed construction would expand the store’s space from 20,000 square feet to 59,000 square feet and add an additional 8,375 square feet of commercial retail space. A dividing wall designed to blend with the store’s decor would enclose the truck-loading dock, which is now fully exposed, Braaten said.

To accommodate 192 parking spaces – 50 more than the city requires – the grocery store would be on the second story, much like the Pacific Beach Ralphs supermarket, and would be accessible by a storefront staircase and glass-enclosed elevator.

“This is the only project where I’ve been fortunate enough to get the parking somewhere where the neighborhood and the customers actually want to see it,” Braaten said.
Additionally, the new store would have 220-250 employees, compared to the 70-90 employees working at the current Vons, Braaten said.

“Everybody knows that San Diego is going through some really tough times right now, like a lot of other cities across North America, and this would be a tremendous boom to the local economy,” Braaten said.

According to Hillcrest Town Council Chairman John Taylor, most of the issues residents have raised were addressed by Vons in their proposal.

“One particular resident, who is a neighbor of Vons, said that he was originally opposed to anything that was coming from Vons until he saw the presentation, and he liked the [new] Vons a lot better,” Taylor said. “The community is generally very receptive to what Vons is proposing.”

Since the store is located just east of Mission Hills, Braaten also gave a presentation at the Mission Hills Town Council on Jan. 14.

Residents attending that meeting were also very receptive to the Vons proposal, Brian Pepin, council representative for District 2 Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, said.

“It seemed pretty clear that everyone was happy that something was going to get done and that the new store is going in,” Pepin said. “Mission Hills is one of the finest neighborhoods in the city and people there really care about the character of the community, so the residents and our office expect Vons to have a proposal that recognizes that, and I think they have.”

Braaten and his colleagues are scheduled to present the project to the Uptown Planners on Feb. 2 at the Joyce Beers Community Center, 1230 Cleveland Ave.