Packed House at Safeway Town Hall Meeting

There was a spirited debate tonight at the Safeway Town Hall meeting, which lasted three hours with almost every seat filled at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Robert Sockwell, chair of the Southwest Safeway Task Force, moderated the discussion, which included representatives from MPD, Waterfront Associates (the developer of Waterfront Station), and Safeway. Also in attendance at the meeting was Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells and At-Large Council member Phil Mendelson. The meeting was prompted by Safeway's request for a Class B liquor license, which would allow them to sell beer and wine in the new store. ANC 6D protested the request at their July meeting as a way to negotiate with Safeway over outstanding community concerns regarding the poor condition of the current Safeway and expectations moving forward (in both the current store and the new store opening next year). First up was Lt. Nicholas Gallucci from MPD's 1st District, who went over security concerns at Safeway. He stated that the Southwest area has experienced the second most dramatic reduction in crime in the city over the past couple of years and the area near Safeway is no exception. MPD has been patrolling the Safeway parking lot as of late, as a courtesy, even though they are not responsible for securing private property. Next was David Smith from Waterfront Associates, who mentioned a few new tidbits about phase I of Waterfront Station:

• The West Tower office building will be named 1101 4th Street and the East Tower will be named 1100 4th Street
• 1100 4th Street will open in March 2010
• There will be 8 or 9 retailers in phase I for a total of 85,000 square feet (55,000 SF will be the new Safeway)
• Included in those 8 or 9 retailers will be 3-4 restaurants
• Specific retailers will be announced within the next six weeks or so as tenant agreements are reached
• Other retailers will start moving in around March or April 2010
• The paving of 4th Street should start next month
• 4th Street will open by March 2010, but could possibly reopen before that date
• Vornado will be the property manager and will have an office on-site
• The site of future phases of development will be grassed over until they are ready to be built
• The developer can't get financing right now to redevelop the old EPA towers into residential, so over the next six months, they will dress up the buildings so they don't look like the eyesores they appear to be now

Afterwards, representatives from Safeway described what was being planned for the new Safeway and how community concerns have/will be addressed. Avis Black from Safeway went over the plans for the new lifestyle concept store:

• The new Safeway will be 55,000 SF, nearly double the size of the current store
• It will be modeled after the Mount Vernon Triangle store - photos of which can be found here
• The store will have a bakery with a hearth oven, gelato, prepared sandwiches, a sushi bar, seating areas with a fireplace, a pharmacy, an assortment of gourmet cheeses, and a floral department, among other things
• The store will be shaped like the letter J as opposed to a rectangle
• If the Class B license is approved, the store will sell beer and wine
• The store will include a Starbucks and a Bergmann's drycleaning desk
• There will be five regular registers and eight self-checkout registers
• Public restrooms will be available
• The main entrance to the store will be off 4th Street
• There will be below-grade parking off 4th Street with an elevator and escalator serving the garage that will go directly to Safeway
• The first level in the garage will be dedicated for retail parking
• Parking will be free for 2 hours for Safeway patrons

Tom Harris and Peter Neth from Safeway addressed issues at the current store, including security, proper stocking of items, their rain check policy, cleanliness, and staffing, namely the lack of customer service. After their presentations, the audience had a chance to ask questions of the panelists. A lot of the questions were prefaced by an anecdotal story about a bad experience at Safeway (we all have them don't we?), followed by a demand for action. The Safeway representatives will meet with the task force once a month to go over their progress in addressing these long standing issues. (Above is a rendering of the exterior of 1100 4th Street, with the new Safeway on the ground floor, courtesy of Vornado)