What’s Planned at the Bernal Heights Safeway?
Rising over a full block at 3350 Mission Street, the Bernal Heights Safeway site is proposed for a sweeping redevelopment into a six-story mixed-use apartment complex with a replacement grocery store at ground level. The project would add 379 homes above the new Safeway.
The plan, led by Align Real Estate with Safeway, covers roughly 2.2 acres between Mission Street and San Jose Avenue at the edge of Bernal Heights and Noe Valley. Similar large-scale urban projects often intensify debate over tenant displacement and affordability as surrounding property values change.
It represents a major shift for a long underbuilt site, with notable community impact due to its scale and prominence.
Filing Signals a Major Neighborhood Change
The formal application was filed in June 2026 and seeks state streamlining through Density Bonus law and Senate Bill 330.
Reporting has framed the proposal as one of the area’s biggest transformations in decades, amplified by strong transit access near key corridors.
What Will the 3350 Mission Street Project Include?
At full buildout, 3350 Mission Street would deliver a six-story mixed-use complex with 379 rental apartments above a replacement Safeway. The project would rise on the 2.2-acre site between Mission Street and San Jose Avenue.
The plan would retain the narrower access connection to 29th Street.
Program Details
Formal plans describe a roughly 90-foot-tall building totaling about 479,000 square feet.
The ground floor would include a new 55,000-square-foot Safeway, replacing the existing 32,000-square-foot store.
The housing program includes 65 studios, 185 one-bedrooms, 89 two-bedrooms, and 40 three-bedrooms. Preliminary design materials also show a central courtyard layout, podium-style massing, and multiple open spaces. Like Denver’s mixed-use district vision at Burnham Yard, the Mission Street proposal combines housing with retail and shared open space.
Access and Parking
Project infrastructure would include a 291-car garage and parking for 286 bicycles.
No groundbreaking date has been announced yet.
How Many Affordable Homes Are in the Plan?
Public reporting indicates the Fillmore Safeway redevelopment at 1335 Webster Street would set aside about 15 percent of its more than 1,800 planned homes as affordable.
That works out to roughly 270 income-restricted units based on the current proposal.
That affordable count is the clearest public estimate now available. Because the total is described as more than 1,800 homes, the final figure could edge higher during review.
| Measure | Current reading |
|---|---|
| Total homes | More than 1,800 |
| Affordable share | About 15 percent |
| Estimated affordable homes | Roughly 270 |
| Unit type | Income-restricted |
| Planning frame | Mixed-income housing mix |
The plan gives Fillmore the largest absolute affordable allocation among the cited Safeway redevelopments.
Even so, its percentage is below some recent citywide deals.
What Stage Is the Bernal Heights Safeway Redevelopment In?
Bernal Heights’ Safeway redevelopment is still in the proposal phase. A formal application for 3350 Mission Street was filed on June 11, 2026 and is now under San Francisco Planning Department review.
The six-story plan calls for 379 rental homes above a larger replacement Safeway on the 2.2-acre site. The city review timeline is expected to move under SB 330 streamlined rules, which limit how much the proposal can be reduced during review.
Even with that filing, no entitlement approval has been reported. That leaves clear uncertainty around when the project could move beyond review.
No groundbreaking date, construction start, or store closure schedule has been announced. For now, the project is best understood as proposed and under review.
Demolition, a temporary Safeway closure, and further city actions would still come later.
How Does This Project Fit Safeway’s SF Housing Push?
More broadly, the Bernal Heights proposal reflects a sharp strategic reversal by Safeway and its parent company, Albertsons. For years, the companies resisted housing on urban store sites because of parking demands.
Now, Albertsons and Align Real Estate are advancing multiple San Francisco redevelopments. These projects would temporarily close stores, add larger replacement supermarkets, and turn surface parking lots into dense housing.
Citywide Expansion Pressure
Bernal Heights is one part of a broader pipeline totaling about 3,500 units across four neighborhoods. Those areas include Fillmore, Outer Richmond, and the Marina District.
That wider push suggests Safeway increasingly sees housing near grocery stores as aligned with market demand, transit access, and community partnerships in dense areas.
At Bernal Heights specifically, the proposal would add 370 homes, including 51 affordable units. It would also expand the Safeway footprint beyond the current store.
Assessment
The Bernal Heights Safeway redevelopment marks another high-stakes shift in San Francisco’s housing environment.
With 379 homes proposed, including a substantial affordable component, the project would convert a long-standing supermarket site into a denser mixed-use property.
Its progress through city review underscores both the pressure to add housing and the disruption tied to remaking neighborhood retail parcels.
The proposal also strengthens Safeway’s broader push to unlock housing on store sites across San Francisco.
