New Safeway finally coming to downtown Los Altos?

Yes, that's right, you heard it -- the new Safeway has finally been approved by the Los Altos City Council! It's a huge improvement over the existing store with more than 45,000 s.f. in a 2-story configuration on the existing site. The downside is that the store will go away for a while but the good news is that downtown will have a modern store that encourages visitors and potential downtown residential growth.

The Los Altos Town Crier has a great story about the new Safeway store. I'm glad the city was finally able to work out a deal that didn't hold the store to the required number of parking spots. The city also stands to get a short term infusion of cash - $500,000 - and assurances the store will be built. Now it's just a matter of setting a timeline for construction.

The whole downtown area is really starting to come together. It's taking a while but it seems well worth it as the town continues transforming into a more vibrant destination. Having a major new grocery store is especially important to anyone thinking of building more residential units downtown. When zoning for Main Street was changed, part of that was driven by the idea of creating a "European-style" village with residential units above retail. That will be more appealing once this new store is completed.