RichmondSFBlog reader Lauren emailed me recently, lamenting the loss of the palm trees at the 32nd & Clement building that will be home to a new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood market and CVS Pharmacy later this year.
“We need all the trees we can get out here in the Richmond,” she wrote.
Well, the good news is that they’re hard at work replacing the ones they took out plus putting in more trees and plants around the property.
The landscaping is more in keeping with the neighborhood and scale of the building in my opinion. Check out the pic below showing the original palm trees – they’re ginormous!
The building also got repainted with green accents, presumably to match the Fresh & Easy branding a bit better.
I spoke with Fresh & Easy spokesman Brendan Wonnacott on Monday. He said the palm trees are being replaced with paper bark trees, which will provide more shade (check out what they’ll look like when they’re all grown up in the pic below).
I asked him if the palm trees were being used elsewhere, but he said that they were not in good enough condition to warrant the cost of moving and repurposing them. So they were instead turned into mulch and recycled, with the approval of the planning department.
Wonnacott didn’t have an update on when the Fresh & Easy will be opening its doors, but as soon as I hear, you will too!
Sarah B.
Some of the new trees that have been planted to replace the palm trees
More trees being planted on the property
Fast forward several years – here’s what the paper bark trees will look like
A shot of the market with the old palm trees in front.
Turned into mulch??? Nooooooo… 🙁
I never thought palm trees looked good in SF.
I liked those palm trees.
I lament the palm loss, but there are better palm species for that location than true date palms.
The paperbarks (Melaleuca quinquenervia) will not be particularly happy there, either. Other Melaleucas, like linariifolia, styphelioides, and armillaris, would have been a better choice. Amazing how imprecise landscape architects and contractors can be.
The Arbutus ‘Marina’ trees they used will become the stars of the show, thriving in the foggy cold, eventually displaying gorgeous orange-pink park and pinkish-white flowers. They’re like domesticated madrone trees.
the palm trees looked better. not a fan of CVS design, so this is no surprise.
Does anyone realize that this store was built to look like the Presidio…and look classy. Now it looks well, a lot different. And I think not in such a good way. At least with the new paint job one can probably find the building in total darkness should that ever be required.
Palm “Trees” are not trees, they are grass.
And they are a liability and trimming headache.
Why do you say palms are a “liability?” I’ve never heard of palm trees hurting anyone… We’ve grown many palms for many years, and they are the most low-maintenance plants around, no leaf litter, no major branch pruning, no diseases, drought tolerant. They do need fertilization, but that’s about it.
The building looks lame with green on it. It’s a Mission style building, and the green clashes with the architecture.