The proposed housing development on the site of the Marina District Safeway would add 790 homes to San Francisco.Arquitectonica
By Laura Waxmann, Staff Writer Dec 23, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
The developer behind the controversial Marina Safeway redevelopment plan has locked in a key partnership with San Francisco construction unions, a crucial step in advancing its plan for a 25-story building with close to 800 new homes amid fierce neighborhood and City Hall pushback.
Developer Align Real Estate’s deal with the building trades groups, required under a state law that streamlines approvals for these types of projects, could make it trickier for the political opposition, which includes Mayor Daniel Lurie and the Marina’s supervisor, Stephen Sherrill, as well as neighborhood activists.
The San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and the NorCal Carpenters Union this week confirmed their involvement with the plan — partnerships that are required under California’s Assembly Bill 2011. The state law makes it easier to get approval for housing on commercial sites but imposes strict labor and environmental standards.
With those agreements in place, Align planned to file its application under the state law on Tuesday, marking a key milestone for a project at 15 Marina Blvd. that has sparked intense debate in the Marina since it was unveiled earlier this month.
Dan Sider at San Francisco Planning said Tuesday that it hadn’t received an application for the project but that when it’s filed, the department will “thoroughly review it as we would any other AB2011” project.
Sider said the state law gives the department 180 days for full approval, including 90 days to confirm the project’s eligibility and compliance and another 90 to approve it.
But that’s a timeline that Align disputes. Align argues that under the law, the city now has 30 days to determine whether Align’s application is complete. If deemed complete, the city must approve the project within 90 days of when it’s filed, the developer said.
In a letter to city planning officials viewed by the Chronicle, Align noted that AB2011 prevents the city from waiting until the department deems the application complete before reviewing the project for consistency with “objective planning standards” specified under the law.
In recent months, Align has also pitched three comparable Safeway proposals in neighborhoods across the city: 1,800 homes in the Fillmore district, 526 homes in the Outer Richmond and 370 homes in Bernal Heights. While state housing laws largely override local planning regulations for Align’s proposed projects, the city and the developer must still cooperate on these projects.
Rudy Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Council, said he understands the concerns about the Marina project coming out of City Hall and hopes the Trades Council can be a “grounding element in future conversations about the project scope and how it moves forward.”
The Marina proposal would replace a six-decades-old Safeway with a modern grocery store topped by 790 apartments, including about 86 affordable units — roughly six times more affordable housing than the Marina has added over the past two decades.
But the project’s scale has fueled opposition: the 25-story complex far exceeds the site’s four-story zoning and was submitted before the supervisors passed Lurie’s “Family Zoning” plan, which increased height and density in parts of the city, including the Marina, that have built few homes in recent decades.
Lurie’s plan would have altered the design of Align’s project, including reducing its size. However, a series of state housing laws passed in recent years allowed the developer to exceed local height limits and lock in those development rights. AB2011, authored by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, also allows the project to bypass much of San Francisco’s standard approval process, which can often tie up projects in years of fights, provided it meets the law’s requirements.
“We can’t be spending 10 or 15 years on projects getting caught up in lawsuits,” Wicks previously told the Chronicle. “We’re never going to solve our housing crisis if that’s the reality.”
The law does not require union-only labor, but it mandates prevailing wages and health benefits for construction workers — a framework that has earned the Marina project backing from influential labor leaders.
“This project creates exactly the kind of union jobs San Francisco needs,” said Jay Bradshaw, executive secretary of the NorCal Carpenters Union, which co-sponsored AB2011. He said the law was designed to “make projects like this possible, producing much-needed housing while upholding strong union standards, good wages and long-term career paths for thousands of construction workers.”
Gonzalez, of the trades council, said the project “uses zoning put in place years ago and takes advantage of new state housing laws to do exactly what San Francisco needs right now.”
Align has not said whether financing for the project is in place or when construction could begin, and Safeway has not announced when the existing store might close for construction.
The developer also confirmed it will work with Webcor as the general contractor on the redevelopment of the Marina Safeway. Webcor has led large-scale housing projects across San Francisco, including Mission Bay’s Verde tower and in the ongoing redevelopment of Treasure Island.
Gonzalez said his organization has vetted Align and is prepared to stake its reputation on the developer.
“We think the project is good and the developer is serious,” he said.
Lurie’s spokesperson Charles Lutvak said in a statement Tuesday that “a developer trying to sneak in a project before our (‘Family Zoning’) plan takes effect is a complete violation of the spirit of that work. Our administration will stand up firmly to developers that game the system, and we will pull every lever we can to make this a project that works for this neighborhood and our city.”
Sherrill said that he’s reached out to Align several times “but so far they don’t seem to want to engage.”
“Over the past year, I worked closely with neighborhood groups and residents who want to shape the future of housing in San Francisco. Align never participated in those conversations and instead chose to move forward without community engagement,” he said. “Their submittal raises serious concerns about construction feasibility, toxic remediation, and access to basic needs like groceries and a pharmacy. I invite Align to engage directly with the community to address these concerns. But as it stands, this concept is simply not the right answer.”
Align’s spokesperson said it has met with Sherrill, and as recently as this week, representatives working with Align have had conversations with him.
Align has pushed back against claims that the proposal blindsided City Hall, noting that the site was identified in multiple Housing Elements as suitable for low-income housing and listed by the Planning Department as eligible for AB2011 streamlining.
“We’re thrilled to be using AB2011 to create more homes and good union jobs,” said David Balducci, a principal with Align. “For far too long, the Marina hasn’t done its fair share to build new housing –– especially affordable housing. Now, this vibrant neighborhood will have hundreds of new homes alongside an expanded grocery store.”
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Dec 23, 2025
Reporter
Laura Waxmann covers the business community with a focus on commercial real estate, development, retail and the future of San Francisco’s downtown. Prior to joining The Chronicle in 2023, she reported on San Francisco’s changing real estate and economic landscape in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic for the San Francisco Business Times.
Waxmann was born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany, but has called San Francisco home since 2007. She’s reported on a variety of topics including housing, homelessness, education and local politics for the San Francisco Examiner, Mission Local and El Tecolote.
