New Millbrae Safeway groundbreaking Friday

Millbrae’s Safeway is closed but the official groundbreaking for the new building will be held Friday morning.

Safeway’s plans, which include tearing down the store at 525 El Camino Real and erecting a podium building with street-level parking both in front of and underneath the store, was approved in 2011. It should take about a year to complete and is estimated to open in May 2013, said Wendy Gutshall, manager of public and government affairs for the Safeway, Northern California division. For the city, it will mean a larger store and the creation of 50 additional jobs needed to man the expanded store, according to a Safeway press release.

Mayor Marge Colapietro was exited by the new store.

"It will be lovely,” she said, adding while it’s closed residents can explore other shops within the city.

Millbrae has a variety of other grocery stores and smaller shops that offer services like deli, flowers and bakery, she said.

Safeway opened in Millbrae in 1962. It is currently 37,094 square feet with 92 parking spaces, according to the staff report written by contract planner Catherine Barber. Space was added in the early ’90s.

The proposal is to demolish the current building to create a 54,000-square-foot store with 183 parking spots which would be reached by using an escalator or elevator. The new store will offer the standard supermarket departments with expanded offerings in the bakery, pharmacy, florist, prepared foods section and deli as well as a wide range of organic foods. In addition, the store will offer outdoor seating for customers to enjoy food or coffee. Important for residents, the new store will retain the historic mosaic currently seen along El Camino Real.

Originally slated to open by Thanksgiving 2012, plans were moved back a couple of times. One delay allowed for the plans to get final approval from the City Council. In February 2011, Councilwoman Gina Papan requested the item go before the City Council for final approval.

While Papan didn’t have any major issues with the development, she wanted the council to have a chance to comment on the large project. The city has since changed its protocol so projects over $5 million require final approval from the City Council.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by email: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.