Housing, Theater, Supper Club for Alexandria Site

By Carol Dimmick

In June, the new owners of the Alexandria Theater, a local landmark in the Richmond District since 1923, are expected to ask the SF Planning Department to approve a plan to convert the building and adjoining parking lot into a mixed-use project that includes 48 units of housing, a supper club, retail space and one movie screen.

The fate of the 1,000-plus-seat triplex and the parking lot has been a question mark since early this year when a group of unknown investors bought the property for $6.5 million.

Details of a preliminary proposal for turning the theater into a mixed-used project surfaced in May after David Silverman, a land use attorney representing the investors, met with city planner Mary Woods and a group of neighborhood stakeholders. Silverman declined a request to discuss the project for this article.

According to Woods, the owners will likely take advantage of a provision under the planning code called "planned unit development," which allows developers to move, and even reduce, a 25-foot rear yard requirement on large lots.

"They can play around with a smaller rear yard," said Woods, who confirmed the planning code allows for flexibility with open space on lots of one-half acre or more, such as the Alexandria site.

Other details of the project discussed at the meeting include building 48 units of housing on what is now the parking lot, converting one of the upstairs theaters into a supper club and turning the ground floor into retail space. Woods said that two levels of underground parking are expected to be developed beneath the housing complex.

Woods and members of several neighborhood organizations discouraged Silverman from leasing the ground floor of the theater to Trader Joe's because of the negative impact traffic would have on the neighborhood. However, Woods still expects traffic to be a major issue.

"Whether they do one large tenant or 20 smaller units, we have concerns about traffic and parking. We told them to do a transportation study," Woods said.

Sources familiar with the discussions say the Richmond YMCA may be interested in moving into 20,000 square feet of retail space expected to be developed on the ground floor at the housing complex site. The YMCA, which owns the building across the street, is looking to expand.

Plans for a separate parcel, a single lot on the north side of the vacant property, which is zoned RH-2, is expected to be turned into two units of housing, according to Woods.

Any project given the green light by the City will go through a vigorous public review process before the SF Planning Commission, which has to approve a Conditional Use Permit before ground can be broken at the site.

Ron Miguel, president of the influential 1600-member Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR), conceded traffic and parking will be a major issue, but said he likes other elements of the plan, including the idea of a supper club and restoring the building's original Reed Bros. facade.

"We gave them the original plans for an older-style facade and they seemed interested," Miguel said.