San Francisco Approves Two‑Tower Marina Safeway Redevelopment

Overview

• City planners granted final approval for Align Real Estate’s plan on Friday, Nov. 6, to replace the Marina Safeway at 15 Marina Blvd with two towers of 22 and 18 stories containing 848 homes and a new ground‑floor Safeway.
• The developer relied on state fast‑track housing law AB 2011 and California’s density bonus program to exceed local height limits and avoid the usual public hearings and CEQA environmental review.
• Opponents filed a federal lawsuit challenging the approval, alleging the city declared the project eligible under AB 2011 before more than 40,000 square feet under the existing store had been tested for known petroleum contamination and naming Align, the city, and PG&E.
• Align says it will complete required environmental testing and the city says any cleanup will occur during permitting before occupancy, while state regulators report the contamination poses no current exposure risk and the developer has not yet secured financing or a construction start date.
• The project has drawn strong local and political pushback because San Francisco adopted a Family Zoning Plan earlier in 2026 that would likely have reduced the project’s scale to roughly 500–600 homes, raising broader questions about state streamlining, neighborhood scale, and housing economics in the city.