Nob Hills Food To Close Locations In San Ramon, Walnut Creek

SAN RAMON, CA — After decades of operation, Nob Hill Foods in San Ramon is scheduled to close between March 15 and March 28, parent company Raley’s said. The closure will affect a total of 94 workers in San Ramon and Walnut Creek, according to a report in the Sacramento Business Journal.

After the location’s lease expired, Raley’s continued operating the stores on a month-to-month basis. However, rising rents and dipping sales led the company to announce a closure on Jan. 12, according to the Business Journal.

Raley’s is reportedly looking for other potential sites for a new San Ramon location. Last year, the City released controversial plans to demolish 57,505 square feet of existing retail space at The Marketplace to make way for a 58-feet-tall, five-story, 284-unit apartment complex. This would get rid of not only Nob Hill Foods, but also Starbucks, SportClips, a dry cleaners, and a pharmacy, according to a DanvilleSanRamon.com report. 32 of the 284 would be affordable.

On Jan. 5, the San Ramon Planning Commission said that they felt the proposed project was too big for the area, a view shared by the vast majority of letter writers and public speakers. Commissioners encouraged TRC Retail to consider scaling down the project.

However, city staff cautioned that due to the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, the city could incur fines of $10,000 to $50,000 per apartment unit if a city is found to inappropriately deny a housing project meeting its own development rules. Senate Bill 330 requires cities that reject affordable housing to show that projects would harm public health or safety, and that there is no feasible way to mitigate those impacts, according to Mercury News report.