Safeway submits plans (by Michelle Durand Daily Journal)
(see link for photo) Rendering courtesy of the city of Burlingame
A proposal for a new Burlingame Safeway at Howard Avenue and El Camino Real will feature rooftop and surface-level parking. The proposal, years in the making, has been subject to countless public study sessions to determine if it would be a good fit for both the city and the grocer. The project is expected to go in front of the Planning Commission by late summer and to the City Council soon after just in time for the council's election season.
The latest plans for a renovated Safeway in downtown Burlingame boasts rooftop parking and 77,000 square feet of development stretched between the store and a satellite building that will also feature a roof garden.
The specifics are part of a new plan brought by Safeway to the Burlingame Planning Department based in part on recommendations from the Safeway Working Group, comprised of interested community members. While the plans include a number of the group's suggestions, such as locating the proposed store in the northwest corner of the property with a separate development at the corner of Howard Avenue and Primrose Road, the submitted plans widely deviate from the group's wishes by placing the truck loading in the front of the main store next to El Camino Real. Truck access will come from Howard Avenue and cross the main parking area.
Deb Karbo, real estate manager for Safeway, heralded the outcome as a creative collaboration? that enhances the city of Burlingame and is financially feasible for Safeway.?
Mayor Ann Keighran echoed the sense of compromise needed to formulate the plans and called the lengthy process worthwhile. We learned from mistakes the first time around and we've learned that it helps to have stakeholders involved from the very beginning,? Keighran said. The process worked better.?
Safeway officials anticipate the Planning Commission looking at the project this fall with construction beginning the following spring but City Manager Jim Nantell cautioned the process is about three months behind. Hopefully, instead we can get it to the commission by the end of summer,? he said.
In February, Safeway officials outlined vague plans which included renovating the Wells Fargo building and adding in pedestrian paths, rooftop parking, an enclosed loading dock and second-floor office space. At the meeting, working group members voiced concern about the difference between what they wanted and the recommendations by Safeway.
The newest Safeway design is a 44,982-square-foot footprint with a 6,865-square-foot mezzanine. The mixed-use building at the opposite corner will have 13,332 square feet of retail on the ground floor and 5,407 square feet of retail above. The existing Wells Fargo building will be refurbished with 6,554 square feet. Pedestrian walkways will connect the site to downtown Burlingame.
The project, a result of the Burlingame Process? design criteria, is uniquely tailored for the city, according to Karbo.
Keighran said she was struck by the airy? design which includes more glass and an open courtyard. Despite earlier community concerns about the truck loading location, Keighran said landscaping and other tweaks can be used to buffer the aesthetics.
The proposal does not include any city-owned property.
Charles Voltz, a previously outspoken proponent of using city land, could not be reached for comment.
Councilwoman Terry Nagel said she had yet to see the plans and others on the council could not be reached for comment.
The battle for a new Safeway and related retail stretches back a decade and includes numerous designs, hearings and trips back to the drawing board. Three years after the February 2004 rejection of a 66,900-square-foot combined Safeway and Walgreens, the public planning process named the Burlingame Process? was created to get more public input.
The plan will require rezoning of one parcel on El Camino Real currently used for parking.
The full plans are available at the Planning Division, Second Floor, Burlingame City Hall, 501 Primrose Road.
- Written by Fiona
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