Chicken, Run: National Slaughterhouse Chain Plans Bayview Outpost

Chicken, Run: National Slaughterhouse Chain Plans Bayview Outpost

Proposed future location of Saba Live Poultry at 1526 Wallace Ave. | Photo: Google

Meaghan M. Mitchell
Published on September 01, 2017

Socketsite reported Wednesday that Saba Live Poultry, a national chain of slaughterhouses, has plans to open at 1526 Wallace Ave. in the Bayview District.

"Yes, it's true," Ali, the chain's East Oakland location manager, told us.

According to a pending application, the company would use a 2,100-square-foot area to process live chickens. Because the property is already zoned for Production, Distribution and Repair (PDR) usage, no conditional use authorization is required.

Discussion summary from pre-application meeting. | Via SF Planning

It's unclear how much controversy a slaughterhouse would create locally; a pre-application meeting was held on August 22 at the project site, but only four people attended.

“No one showed up for meeting except architect and three representatives of tenant. Waited on site from 6:00 to past 6:30,” wrote Harvey Hacker, the project’s architect in an affadavit to the Planning Department.

"We are working with the city on fulfilling the permit requirements. Should everything be approved, we will start the process of opening in a few months."

Live chickens at Saba Halal Poultry. | Photo: Saba Live Poultry/Facebook

The halal-certified chain is known for selling and processing live chickens. While other locations may sell a variety of livestock, Ali said this location will most likely only offer poultry. 

Saba Live Poultry wouldn't be the first slaughterhouse in Bayview.

Several blocks north, in an area bounded by Third Avenue, Oakdale Street and Cesar Chavez, as many as eighteen slaughterhouses operated in the 1880s, giving it the name Butchertown.

Unlike most other areas of San Francisco, this was a multi-ethnic enclave with a close-knit community. The majority of slaughterhouses closed after the 1906 earthquake with one lasting until 1977. 

Pigs in Butchertown.| Photo: Merchants of Butchertown/Facebook

Bayview hasn't seen a slaughterhouse since then, but Merchants of Butchertown, a group of small business owners, is paying homage to the neighborhood's history.

Association founder Barbara Gratta, who operates Gratta Wines in Butchertown Gourmet, said Saba's move to the Bayview evokes the area's industrial past.

"That's what started this neighborhood," said Gratta. "I feel like what MOB has been doing is along the same lines—a group of people collaborating to bring the industry back to the Bayview. It's coming back full circle."

For more information on Saba Halal Poultry, visit its website.