A Year Empty – What's Happening with Old Safeway?

It was a year ago today, Aug. 11, that the El Cerrito Safeway at Moeser Lane and San Pablo Avenue closed. On the same day, Safeway in effect relocated by in a renovated former Target store on San Pablo Avenue next to the del Norte BART station.

The old Safeway has remained empty since then, a prominent 35,000-square-foot vacancy in a high-profile location on the city's main commercial artery, as city officials sought to help find a re-use and residents wondered if it would remain vacant indefinitely.

Since today marks the one-year anniversary of the store's closure, Patch inquired what's happening with it.

According to Dwayne Dalman, El Cerrito's senior economic development program manager, Safeway has a long-term lease on the property and is negotiating with the owner over the terms of the lease by which Safeway would rent to as a sublessee. He did not identify who a potential tenant might be.

El Cerrito Assistant City Manager Karen Pinkos said at a public meeting on Aug. 2 that Safeway is currently negotiating with possible tenants, including fitness clubs and retailers. At that meeting, called to discuss a possible new El Cerrito Library, Pinkos had been asked if the Safeway building could be used for a new library, but she said such a re-use would not be an option since it is private property.

It was not clear if the potential tenants that Safeway is talking to represent fresh talks. A city staff report from 20 months ago said, "Safeway has received interest from both health clubs and discount retailers."

Dalman referred questions on specifics to Safeway. Attempts to obtain information and comment from Safeway were unsuccessful.

Safeway's own lease for the building included a base rent plus a percent of gross sales, which was suitable for a grocery, but apparently not desirable for the envisioned re-use, Dalman said. Safeway has ruled out another grocer occupying the space, Dalman said.

A Dec. 20, 2010 staff report prepared for a joint meeting of the City Council and Redevelopment Agency, said, 

"Given the condition of the existing (Safeway) building, renovating it for use as a health club would be costly and, depending on the degree of modification, make it very difficult to convert for use by other types of tenants. For this reason and for concern over income and the impact of a health club on adjacent tenants, the property owner has been unwilling to accept a health club as a subtenant in the Safeway space. He would like to re-lease the store to a grocer, though the level of improvements needed to make the building marketable is unclear, and regardless Safeway has been unwilling to consider such a scenario. Renovating the building and leasing it to a discount retailer may be the most financially advantageous to Safeway, but is the least likely to contribute to an overall upgrade of the Center, absent the involvement of other property owners, tenants and/or the Redevelopment Agency."

The Dec. 20, 2010 staff report also said, "Should the Safeway space be re-tenanted with a discount retailer, it could quite possibly include substandard exterior improvements, and the overall condition of the Center would be unlikely to improve, particularly given the trend towards decline of these types of centers."

Safeway has been in El Cerrito almost as long as the city has existed. The city was founded in 1917, and a sign on the wall in the old Safeway said, "Serving El Cerrito since 1929."