After their initial plan hit a roadblock last year, Safeway representatives have proposed a revised conceptual design to redevelop their aging store at 160 First St. in downtown Los Altos.
The grocery store chain’s previous plan included a 41,575-square-foot market, 4,800 square feet of non-market retail space and 168 parking spaces. City officials rejected the plan last year because it was short approximately 50 parking spaces, according to James Walgren, assistant city manager.
The new plan, submitted in early April, reduces the size of the retail space and the number of parking spots but increases the space allotted for the market. Walgren said the revisions could prove adequate now that Safeway has agreed to join the Downtown Parking District, an agreement between the city and merchants to share their parking lots.
“Downtown shoppers will be able to use our lot for parking they may need in the area – it will be a win-win for all,” said Susan Houghton, Safeway’s director of public and government affairs.
Safeway’s willingness to partner with the city to make its parking spaces available to the public and the store’s proximity to public parking plazas enhance the plan’s feasibility, Walgren said.
The revised plan nearly doubles the Los Altos store’s footprint.
“We’d like to build a store that’s about 43,600 square feet of retail area – a lifestyle store,” Houghton said. “We’d like to be able to provide a better grocery shopping experience in the downtown area to Los Altos residents.”
Of the 148 parking spaces proposed, eight would be situated behind a small retail store on the first level and the other 140 are rooftop parking, Houghton said. The non-Safeway retail space has decreased from 4,800 to 3,000 square feet, she added.
An initial review of the revised plan has unearthed problems that city planners have directed Safeway to address, according to Zach Dahl, Los Altos senior planner.
“We’re supportive of this concept, but there are a variety of technical issues and details in the plan (that must be revised),” he said.
Last year councilmembers offered suggestions that included maintaining a spacious and clean loading-dock area, building pedestrian friendly sidewalks, making the rear of the building facing Foothill Expressway more attractive, installing solar shades for the rooftop parking spaces and attracting a national retailer for the first-floor retail space.
The review process require s recommendations from the Los Altos Architecture & Site Review Committee and the Planning Commission and final approval from the city council before construction can begin, according to Walgren.
Safeway officials hope to open the new store by the 2012 winter holiday season, Houghton said.
