The closing of Albertsons on Catalina Boulevard has elicited cries from residents dependent on its location and services, while plans to redevelop the property it sits on have created questions about the future of the site.
The full-service grocery store wedged between Canon Street, Catalina Boulevard and Talbot Street has offered an alternative to stores in busier parts of Point Loma and Ocean Beach since its construction in 1952. On Jan. 3, 1956, Lucky Supermarket replaced a former tenant until a merger with Albertsons in 1998.
Albertsons tentatively plans to vacate the storefront on May 11, although the doors could shut sooner. Regional spokesperson Lilia Rodriguez attributed the closure to poor performance and stressed that buying, selling and closing stores is part of the company’s daily business operations.
“Our company is continually reviewing its assets to ensure that it’s getting a solid return on its investments,” Rodriguez said. She would not comment on why the Point Loma store had low sales, but denied that redevelopment plans for the property precipitated the closure.
Since the news broke, Councilman Kevin Faulconer’s office has been flooded with calls about the for a replacement. The District 2 representative advocates another grocery store tenant in Albertsons’ place and has spoken with the shopping center’s leaseholder, Aspen Properties.
“Their intent is to have another market or specialty market in there,” Faulconer said. “That is my preference and I have expressed that to them.”
Aspen Properties, a local real estate company, has held a lease on Loma Plaza for approximately eight years. According to CEO John Tworoger, any redevelopment is contingent upon finding tenants first.
“We would like to have a market there,” he said. “We are currently working with several opportunities to do just that.”
Tworoger emphasized that the property, currently called Loma Plaza, will remain commercial, despite buzz to the contrary.
“I’ve heard a rumor that we were going to add a large number of residential units to the site “” that was never our intent,” Tworoger said.
Loma Plaza’s zoning only reinforces confusion about future developments. The property includes two distinctly zoned parcels. The first is an L-shaped lot zoned CN-1-2 for commercial neighborhood use. According to San Diego Municipal Code, such a zone allows for low-intensity development with retail and personal service uses and vehicle access.
Inside the commercial “L” is a smaller triangle of property zoned RS-1-7 for residential developments requiring a minimum of 5,000-square-foot lots. This residential single unit designation cannot be used for commercial development or parking.
Currently, Loma Plaza does not contain homes, and it does have parking on its residential lot. This is because development on the property preceded the most recent zoning.
In order to proceed with an entirely commercial development for both lots, Aspen Properties will most likely have to request a rezone of the entire area to get it up to date. According to Cory Wilkinson of Development Services, the rezone process can take between six months to one year.
“It is an action that needs to go forward to the City Council for approval,” he said.
Last summer, Aspen Properties and local firm Golba Architecture filled out a preliminary review questionnaire, which contained a series of questions for Development Services about their redevelopment plans. The non-binding document dated June 13, 2005, proposed to add 3,389 square feet to the existing grocery-drug store, reconfigure parking to provide 136 to 139 full-sized spaces, relocate and replace light poles, demolish and replace a one-story building with fenced cell equipment site, demolish and replace a three-story building with a one-story common building and drive thru teller, and provide two new temporary kiosks.
Wilkinson looked over the information and provided 12 pages of feedback in July 2005. To date, Aspen Properties has not followed up by submitting a complete project for review, which is the first official step.
If Aspen pursues a redevelopment, it could be years before they decide on a plan and an architect, complete the city review and rezone process, finish construction and move in the new tenants.
According to Faulconer’s Point Loma representative, Geoff Lipsey, the two most vocal groups concerned about the lack of a local grocer have been elderly residents and students from Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU).
“Any time of the day, [Albertsons] is an easy drive for [older residents] and they are apprehensive about having to contend with traffic to get to the other locations,” Lipsey said of the community feedback.
PLNU might also be impacted by the closure, as most students live on campus through their senior year and freshmen are not allowed to have vehicles. Many students walk, bike or ride the university shuttle to access peninsula shopping facilities, and Albertsons has long been a stone’s throw from the campus.
“The university is assessing what impact it will have on our students,” said Joe Watkins, PLNU vice president of community development. “We are looking at other strategies to make shopping more available to them.”
Watkins said that the free off-campus shuttle might have to adjust its route or increase departure times to accommodate student need.
“We are waiting like everyone else to see what market might be able to take the place of Albertsons,” he added.