A Florida-based developer has filed plans to knock down the Safeway at 700 B Street in downtown San Rafael and replace it with an eight-story apartment complex with 331 units. The proposal, submitted under California’s SB 330 streamlining law, would reserve 28 units as affordable and currently skips any replacement grocery store, a detail that has already rattled neighbors who say the downtown market is still a crucial walkable lifeline.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the plan calls for about 376,756 square feet of residential space stacked above a 133,221-square-foot parking garage with roughly 394 spaces, and lists Niki Group LLC as the property owner. The Chronicle describes the filing as an early SB 330 pre-application and notes that only about 8 percent of the homes would be designated as affordable.
Neighborhood leaders told the San Francisco Chronicle that the B Street Safeway is still heavily relied on despite theft and operational issues. Amy Likover, president of the Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods, summed it up simply: “People depend on it, I know I do.” Preservation advocates point out that the site sits at the edge of the B Street Historic District and want more time to assess the design and its fit with the area, while a Mill Creek consultant told the Chronicle that SB 330 pre-application filings are early procedural moves that preserve the developer’s rights while they study whether the project pencils out.
Part of a Larger Safeway-to-Housing Wave
The Real Deal reports this is the seventh Safeway-related redevelopment proposal in the Bay Area, and that if all of them move ahead, they would add roughly 4,623 housing units across the region. The broader wave, which includes proposals by Align Real Estate in San Francisco and San Mateo, has kicked up fresh arguments over building heights, grocery access and how to add housing without stripping neighborhoods of basic services.
Mill Creek’s Local Footprint
Mill Creek already has a toehold in downtown San Rafael. Earlier this year, the company broke ground on Modera San Rafael, a 210-unit project at 930 Irwin Street, the developer said. In a press release via PR Newswire, Mill Creek outlined the Irwin Street development and its broader activity in the Bay Area.
What Comes Next
Because the new proposal was submitted under California’s SB 330, which limits delays for qualifying housing projects, the city will have a tighter timeline to modify or reject the plan during its review. San Rafael is required to show it can accommodate 3,220 units in the 2023–2031 RHNA cycle, according to the City of San Rafael housing element, a target that helps explain why developers are circling large, centrally located parcels.
The filing will now move through city staff review and public outreach, and neighbors, along with local groups, are expected to press the developer on building design, whether any retail space comes back, and how the project will serve people who already live nearby. Whether a grocery store ultimately returns to the B Street block, and how the city links new housing to everyday neighborhood services, will be central questions as this Safeway-to-housing showdown unfolds.
