Reader Francisco saw a sign on the building at 3600 Geary, just 1 block east of Arguello, indicating that a new CVS Pharmacy store will be opening.
The property was formerly the home of the Institute on Aging, who migrated across the street into a brand new building in 2011.
CVS received conditional use approval from the Planning Department to open in the 19,200 square foot onhealthy antabuse online space, and they’ve applied for a building permit to complete $1.28 million in renovations that includes restrooms, fixtures, finishes, signage, and a vertical lift to a mezzanine floor.
No word yet on when the new CVS will open. This will be the second CVS location in the Richmond District – the first sits alongside Fresh & Easy on 32nd Avenue near Clement.
Sarah B.
Yuk
Once upon a time, chain stores were frowned upon in SF. Sure this is a long-vacant building which, due to size, has limited lease potential. But…the out-of-towners are winning in turning a once thriving and diverse city into strip mall, one block at a time.
What is ‘Institute on Aging,’ anyway? Money laundering outfit, or legitimate entity?
@Pam – They are quite legitimate. You should visit the link in the story to find out more:
https://richmondsfblog.com/2011/03/30/institute-on-agings-new-senior-campus-opens-community-event-this-saturday/
Wow, a million dollars just for renovations.
This is great! They’re soooo much better than Walgreen’s and I’m tired of seeing that building empty and falling down. Plus, they take my insurance.
Couple of Comments here. Actually I think the Institute on Aging is a “warehouse” for seniors. The building itself is a monstrosity and compared to what was there previously; i.e. the historic Coronet theater I am dismayed and depressed each time I pass by the concrete block whose architecture reminds me of East Germany in the 1950’s. Next we go across the street to the proposed CVS. It’s fine CVS is coming to the neighborhood. Sorry but San Francisco is not the Herb Caen City our parents lived in. All these folks who want to keep the Corporations out need to attend the attitude adjustment hour.
Great. That stretch of Geary has been taken over by service oriented businesses and back in the day that space was a retail Consumers Distributing store.
A store like CVS will bring customers and shoppers that allow other smaller stores to feed off. That’s the key to retail in neighborhoods. If you have some “chain” type stores, smaller more independent stores can succeed.
It’s a shame that a pharmacy could not have been included when the Coronet was replaced with the senior facility. I anticipate a lot of issues with seniors crossing Geary.
While I miss Value Giant (not its successor Giant Value), I don’t miss Consumers Distributing as they frequently were out of stock on the items we redeemed Green Stamps for and often had to trek over to Lakeshore and pay for similar items at G.E.T.
Well if we’re going to criticize the architecture of the new building…
Doesn’t the new building have retail space? I thought that retail was de riguer when it came to big new buildings, and retail would certainly help the street presence of that big thing. What’s going on behind those ground floor windows? (I honestly want to know– I haven’t been inside.)
That said, the building is bad. It’s a big, institutional, imposing structure, which tries to pretend that it’s not. It has five different roof lines, which I guess is supposed to imply that it’s a bunch of smaller, separate buildings (?!). It just looks like a mess. If you want a good example, just look at Roosevelt Middle School a block away– it’s just as big and just as imposing, but it looks good doing it, because it looks like a big, solid building.
“I think the Institute on Aging is a “warehouse” for seniors.”
A “warehouse?” That is a cheap shot to both the IOA and the seniors who benefit from their services. IOA provides a number of valuable – and increasingly critical – services and housing for seniors. I encourage you to take a look at their website (http://www.ioaging.org) and reconsider your slur.
Heheh, G.E.T, and Consumers Distributing… Love it. Nice to see some longtime SF’ers are still around.
I think strategic chains are great. Especially with buildings of this size that are networkable for smaller retail. This building is an eyesore. I’m glad someone with the $$ like cvs will come in an revamp it.
OT but nice: Balboa Street is featured in today’s Street Date column in the Chron:
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/streetdate/article/Balboa-Street-Outer-Richmond-6320076.php
Does any real San Franciscan remember when this place use to be “Consumers?” Where you buy things that were in a catalog? hehe that was way back then…
Of course! there was one at the Wharf on Bay St., and one in the Sunset too, Taraval?
I see on Reuters today that CVS is buying all of Target’s pharmacies. Not that Target has a long history in SF or that CVS out here used to be Long’s Drugs…
The IOA building needs ground floor retail. The dammed thing is 8 stories tall, has no street presence and destroyed the historic Coronet. The building has destroyed that whole area in my opinion.
I like this building’s (3600 Geary) ribbon windows and have always wondered about its architect and history. Anyone know?
Nick Fong: Consumers Distributing was indeed a catalog store chain with locations at Bay Street across the street from the Northpoint Mall, at Taraval and 15th Avenue which is now a Kelly Moore paint store, in Colma next to Gemco (Gemco building is now Target) and the Geary and Palm.
CVS won planning commission approval to remodel the old Ron Price Volkswagen/US Postal Service Distribution Center at 19th Avenue and Ortega St in August 2014 but the building is still abandoned, undeveloped, and empty. The French school across the street objected in having a pharmacy so close. Crossing 19th Avenue to get to the store is no picnic either. Surprised the Roosevelt Middle School officials didn’t raise any objections to CVS moving in at Geary/Palm like the French school did.
The CVS location at Geary/Palm would be nice since no major pharmacies and nearby. Pier 1 Imports, BevMo, Round Table Pizza, and Office Max are all in the same area since no anti-chain store excuses at that location.