The long-shuttered Lee's Meats / Popular Market at 478 Haight St. may not be long for this earth.

Way back in September of 2011, we reported that the building's owner, one Tommy Lee, was exploring the possibility of razing the blighted property, which has been dormant since 2007. 

Lee filed for a Preliminary Project Assessment (PPA) from the SF Planning Department, in which he proposed to replace the abandoned market with a four-story, mixed-use building. It would consist of ground floor retail, and a 22-bedroom elderly care facility on the three floors above, with one level of underground parking:

The PPA was issued in October of 2011. It found that Lee's proposed design was appropriate—"Overall, the massing is handled well," "Overall the proposed architectural design has an appropriate rhythm, detail, and scale," etc — and made just a few recommendations for relatively minor tweaks.

In June of 2013, Lee filed for an environmental review, which is required before such a project can be approved. The estimated cost of the project was over $3.4 million, according to the filing.

For the next year or so, it seemed that there was no movement on the project. But that has changed in recent months, as Planning Department activity related to the project has picked up. In October it was determined that no hearing was required relating to the environmental review. An internal meeting was held about the project in January, and since then documents have been drafted as the initial review has continued.

So, it looks like this long-brewing project is moving forward, and may be bringing some new energy to the 400-block of Haight in the nearish future. Stay tuned.