NVV July/August 2018: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or other resources. Follow the NVV link at the bottom for full articles and all the ads.

July/August 2018

Front Page: Haystack Pizza is the longest running restaurant in Noe Valley (46 years) and going strong; Healthy Spot pet store was denied a request to open due to neighborhood protest; Picturesque and vintage F cars return to the Church St Muni corridor.

Letters: The owner of Folio Books urges neighbors to spend time (and money) in Noe Valley if they want a vibrant 24th St; A local complaint about a 6 month no parking permit for construction from 7AM to 6PM, 7 days per week.

Features: The clothes recycling box headed for the parking lot on 24th near Castro has been shelved due to concerns from a neighborhood group; London Breed is mayor and Rafael Mandelman took the District 8 supervisor seat; Upper Douglass dog park may be shut twice a week to address neighborhood concerns with the site's grass turf; Police still seeking clues to attack on mother with baby on Sanchez on June 3; The Noe Valley Coffee Company is seeking approval to operate its own coffee roaster inside Spin City at 1299 Sanchez at 26th; Summerfest 2018 is coming to Noe Valley from 11am-4pm on July 29.

Cost of Living in Noe Valley: Just 7 single family homes sold in May for an average price of $2.69 million; a mere 4 condos sold for an average of $1.3 million. A $4.9 million home sold on the 200 block of 28th St. and the most expensive homes and condos sold both went to private sales before they hit the market.

Store Trek: Moe's Barbershop and Beauty Parlor,  4008 24th St near Noe St.

Rumors and Tidbits: Of the 16,415 voters registered in Noe Valley, 64 percent cast their ballots in June; The crocheted animals in the trees on Diamond St between Alvarado and 23rd are the loving handiwork of local artist Huib Petersen, and a small protest against the "creepiness" of "the man in the White Hous;." Podolls is closing on July 9 and Small Frys is moving into the space; Sean, a menswear store on 24th has closed; The old See Jane Run space is going through a seismic retrofit and is for rent; Building permits have been issued and work has begun to create 3 new commercial spaces in the old Real Foods space; Douglas is now open at 1598 Sanchez; The Noe Valley Merchants and Professional Association is looking to add more murals by local muralists to downtown Noe Valley with the first ones planned for Rachel Swann's office on Vicksburg, Honeycomb Spa, Philz Coffee and possibly Novy.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

NVV Feb 2018: We Read It So You Don’t Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or other resources. Follow the NVV link at the bottom for full articles and all the ads.

February 2018

Front Page: LA-based chain pet store Healthy Spot wants to open in the old Radio Shack space - and local merchants aren't having it; local a profile of local resident and longtime Rolling Stone writer Ben Fong-Torres (a documentary about him is coming out this spring); Noe Valley's solid voter turnout could be a force in this June's special mayoral election.

Letters: A neighbor writes to remind his fellow Noe Valley residents that there is Thursday morning meditation on the Noe Valley Town Square from 8-9am.

Features: Large turnout this year for Neighborhood Emergency Response Training (NERT) after the Jan. 4 earthquake (more at sf-fire.org); the house at 79 28th St. is at the center of a housing battle that encapsulates the housing crisis and gentrification struggles of Noe Valley. A profile of Noe Valley Cyclery owner David Kline who's had a good long run since 1976 and who plans to retire in April - and Dani Sheehan Myer's struggle to make a go of it with Cliche Noe Gifts + Home before it closed in January. RIP Barbara Ann May, Fair Oaks resident, artist and community activist.

Cost of Living in Noe Valley: Real estate sales were brisker than they've been in 10 years in the last few months of 2017 including for multi-unit buildings. The average cost to buy a house here: $2.7 million.

Store Trek: Ardiana, 1781 Church St. at 30th

Rumors and Tidbits: The Noe Valley Merchants & Professionals Association (NVMPA) is presiding over a commercial corridor on 24th St. that is losing retailers (14 vacant store fronts) and mostly gaining professional services (think realtors, title companies, health offices and banks). Commercial rents range from $4,000 to $12,000. Navarette's Black Belt Academy has moved out of the old See Jane Run space and back to Church St - and the See Jane Run space needs a seismic retrofit. The Mill is moving to 18th and Hartford in the Castro on February 13. Rachel Swann, the NVMPA president and a realtor, tried to pull a fast one on her fellow merchants by converting a former retail space into a realtor office that also sold swag - more than a few retailers on 24th St. are not amused. The S.F. History Association, which held monthly meetings at St. Philips is moving to Newman Hall in Sherith Israel at California and Webster. Noe Valley Democratic Club president Todd David says he is supporting Noe Valley resident Mark Leno, not London Breed, in the upcoming mayoral election. Le Cupboard is still closed. A new Japanese restaurant called Seokyo is opening in at 1740 Church at Day St. (formerly Taku Sushi, Noe Sushi, Tataki South, Deep and Deep Sushi). Hamlet is closing and will become a Japanese eatery. Nothing is happening at Real Foods. Noe Valley is rumored to be the most popular destination in SF for Airbnb rentals. James Lick Middle School is the beneficiary of a $265,000 garden grant which will have 60 species of plants and an organic vegetable garden - it opens February 10. The Diamond Heights Shopping Center has been bought by new investors. A new group called Swing Left is signing up residents at the Farmer's Market to "take back the house in 2018."

[The Noe Valley Voice]

This Week In Noe Valley: La Bou Closing Soon, The Root Wants You To Re-Wild And Local Blight From 1945

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Driven out by rising rent, Cradle of the Sun finds a new home in West Portal [NVSF]
• Priceless: A 4 year old’s map of Noe Valley [@peteskomoroch]
• La Boulange closures have started – Noe Valley branch set to close Sept. 17 [Hoodline]
• Photo of blight on Sanchez between 25th and Duncan – from 1945! [Eric Fischer]
• ICYMI: Video Wave relocating to inside Buttons Candy Bar [NVSF]
• Olive This Olive That makes best “niche” store list [SFist]
• Photo: Manhole cover or transporter pad in Noe Valley? [suebraids]
• Noe Valley is like an art installation [@Omarmasry]
• Estate sale for former Noe Valley artist Jack Freeman [1608 Legacy]
• Found art: Street corners of Noe Valley [@Dunk_Ra]
• The Root Midwifery – an “opportunity for women to connect, normalize, re-wild and initiate the blueprint of birth” - opens this weekend, and already has a GoFundMe campaign [PR Newswire]

[Photo: Noe Valley summer day via daretoeatapeach]

The Big Reveal: Real Foods Building Presentation

Last night there was a pre-application community meeting for the project to (finally) replace the Real Foods building on 24th Street. Turnout was solid – all the chairs were filled, mostly with longtime Noe Valley residents who touted their tenure in the neighborhood as a badge of honor when giving comments. Few look like they take a shuttle bus to work. One person described herself as an “oldster” - a term that generally described the room.

Scott Wiener was the MC of the meeting, first giving the floor to Peter Gabel. Peter spoke of the recent passing of Greg Gutknecht and noted that there will be memorial potluck Sunday at 3pm at Valley Tavern.

Then Scott took the floor. We didn’t record what he said, but here’s a close approximation:

The Real Foods space has been vacant for more than a decade. In my 4 years in office, a week doesn’t go by that I don’t get an email or tweet from someone in the neighborhood asking why it’s empty and what can we do about it.

A year ago, someone in the neighborhood who wishes to remain anonymous introduced us to the head of Neutraceutical Corporation, the owners of the building. Three of us flew to Park City, Utah for a meeting with senior management that was supposed to take just half an hour and ended up being a very friendly 3 hour meeting. By the end of the meeting, Neutraceutical had committed to moving forward to make good use of the space and build a mixed use retail and housing space. Those plans are now moving forward.

As is common in a conditional use development that needs to appear before the planning commission, we are convening a community meeting to hear feedback on the plans. There are a lot of politics associated with this space and we're all entitled to our opinion. However, tonight we are looking to the future - to something we've all wanted, which is not a vacancy in the former space. The goal here is to listen with an open mind and have a productive dialog.

Scott then turned the floor over to Sergio Diaz from Neutraceutical (who was involved in the labor settlement with the employees of Real Food). Sergio nervously thanked everyone for coming and hastily handed the meeting over to Brian Liles and Julie Jackson, principals at Jackson Liles Architecture (Julie is also a proud parent and member of the PTSA at James Lick Middle School). They proceeded to go through a series of slides about the existing site, the plans, and the things they took into consideration when thinking about the design.

First, let's make sure we know what's allowed at the existing site:

• The lot is 50' wide and 114' deep, requires a 28.5' rear yard and is zoned for 40' in height. Rear yard required: 28.5'.
• The Noe Valley Commercial District prohibits office space on the 2nd floor of new construction.
• A Conditional Use permit may (or may not) be required for whatever moves into the ground floor.

Here's what was proposed last night:

• The retail level has 14' ceilings and is 3345sf – slightly smaller than the former Real Foods space. The space could be divided into two storefronts with 1470sf and 1875sf.
• Four 2bd/2ba loft-style condos. The two facing 24th St are 1226sf; the south-facing units are 1540sf and all have decks.
• The terraced design will allow more light onto the street and keep it inline with the surrounding buildings like Fresca and The Bagel Shop.
• The façade will have wood siding on it's upper levels and stone facing the sidewalk at the retail level. Trees will green the sidewalk.
• Neutraceutical pledged once again to not open a store on site - they will lease the ground floor.

The meeting was then opened up to public comment, paraphrased here to give a sense of the tone and who goes to these meetings:

Praise:

• Neighborhood architect says: Thoughtful, addresses the streetscape, good usable units on 24th St. I have no negative comments.
• I applaud Scott Weiner for his efforts here – we have an opportunity to create a great space. Good things have come out of Real Foods closure including the Farmer’s Market and Town Square – here’s to more.

Meh:

• The façade is ugly– the masonry blocks look better suited for Van Ness than 24th St.
• The drawings are generic – there's an opportunity here to do something that defines the neighborhood instead of 2 small skinny retail spaces.
• The terraces are very hipster-like – too hip for our neighborhood. I'd like hipsters to stay away.

Anger:

• “Where are the people going to park? This is bullsh*t!”
• Angry lady living at 3933 24th St/next door over the bagel shop: The building is dilapidated because Neutraceutical ripped off the roof – they’re a bully of a company that doesn’t give a crap. Don’t know why we’re all praising them.
• The street doesn’t warrant those terraces. I don’t to know who’s living there and what they’re doing – I don’t think there should be terraces.
• I live near the senior housing down the block – relatively new project – a year later there was no parking, there are 3 residences with 6 cars and it’s a nightmare; also, the design is hideous and doesn’t fit in.
• No amount of bike lanes is going to make parking easier.
• What about trash bins and recycling? The design doesn’t show bins for those.
• What about parking and middle income housing?
• I live on Jersey with my backyard facing this building – I’m worried about privacy from the decks and the placement of mechanicals (noise).

Practical:

• I’d love to sell my single family home and live out my retirement in a one bedroom on 24th St and walk my grandchildren down a sidewalk without curb cuts.
• Why have a two story elevator to a two story loft with stairs?
• Please make the retail not be a nail salon, title company or bank.
• Design is nice contextually. Different heights and styles. Why not make more units that are smaller to attract younger buyers instead of car owners?
• No matter what is built, please continue to work with the neighborhood.
• Our community is happy to see change – it’s been blighted for 10 years. Let’s not shoot for lowest common demoninator. I’d like to see better options than a brew pub or having Whole Foods use it for their food use facility. Let’s make it like the Ferry Building with food stalls or carts – something innovative.

We asked Jackson Liles today what they thought of the process and what changes they may be considering. They said they enjoyed the process and are sorting through all the info. They will work with the design team over the coming weeks, but have not settled on a direction yet. We'll keep you posted.

[NVSF: Coming Soon: Plans To Develop Real Foods Building]
[Photo: Noe Valley community meeting #realfoods]

Meeting: What Should Happen To The Real Foods Building?

It’s true: There are plans underway to develop the empty storefront across from Whole Foods on 24th St – the space formerly known as Real Foods. So what will it be: A Trader Joe’s? A climbing gym? A brew pub? Condos? Nails/Waxing? Now is your chance to find out – and more importantly to weigh in.

At 7pm Thursday (that's tomorrow) at St. Philips Parish Hall the developers will be offering a preview of what’s in the works. There will be plans displayed and architects on hand to describe the drawings and answer questions. Stakes are high for such a central location in Noe Valley – this should be worth attending.

What: Real Foods Building Plans Presentation
When: Thursday, January 22nd at 7pm
Where: St. Philips Parish Hall, 725 Diamond St

[NVSF: Real Foods: I Wish This Was...]

This Week In Noe Valley: Fines For Real Food Blight, Google To Take Over The City, And Easy Breezy Is The Best Froyo

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Google may open a massive SF campus, which makes us wonder how workers will get there (public transit?) [SF Biz Times]
• Richard Brewer-Hay's kids do some cool stuff - this time appearing in a SF Bulls ad [esbale]
• Julia Turner of Slate loooooooves Noe Valley's Happy Donuts (skip to 46:36) [Slate Radio]
• The Real Foods space may not be occupied anytime soon, but at least Nutraceutical will pay the City for the blight [@bwalsh]
• This week's real estate porn: 1612 Church Street [Socketsite]
• Easy Breezy wins an international frozen yogurt award (no really!) [PR Log]
• A brief history of the wood sculpture at the top of Clipper [Art & Architecture SF]

[Photo: thesamekz]

NVV Nov 2013: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until the middle of the month.

November 2013

Front Page: Valley Tavern hosts "Pub Quiz" Nights every Tuesday; Aesthetic Dentistry participated in Give Back a Smile to help a battered woman; Phoenix becomes Folio; Noe Valley Ministry remodel is on schedule and will reopen with ¡HolaKids! preschool next fall; Mazook gets 4" of Rumors on the front page.

Letters: The NVMPA wants you to know that 24th between Castro and Noe made San Francisco Magazine's top ten blocks for gift buying; Poet Tom Peck is angry Scott Wiener helped shut down the Market Street Recycling Center.

Short Takes: Plans to renovate Noe Courts stalled when tennis players showed up in force at last meeting, so there's a new final meeting on Nov 13 from 6-8pm at St Philip's.

Cost of Living in Noe: Low inventory, relatively lower prices for homes in September; 1 bedroom apartment average hovers around $2,700/month.

Store Trek: Buttons Candy Bar.

Rumors: Scott Wiener and Carol Yenne went to Utah and met with Nutraceutical Corp, which plans to demolish the Real Foods building next year and construct an unspecified replacement that won't include one of their own stores (start dreaming); Tom Taylor and Jerry Goldstein of the "Christmas Tree House" on 21st St got married once the Supreme Court struck down DOMA and Prop 8 - 40 years after they hooked up at the baths; Be Yoga has opened; "Best of" lists recounted; La Ciccia offshoot La Nebbia plans to open by the end of November; Firefly celebrates 20 years.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

This Week In Noe Valley: Pop-Up Grits, SFMTA Hit And Run, And Signs Of Labor Day In Noe

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Cheese grits pop-up coming to Noe Valley bakery every Friday in September [Noe Valley Bakery]
• Good Samaritan reports SFMTA hit and run and gets results [@sleepyemu]
• Noe Valley family physician Dr. Daphne Miller on Forum: What Can Farming Teach Us About Living? [KQED]
• Noe Valley "dream home" comes with landlord duties and a Sauron-like heat lamp in the bathroom [KTVU]
• How you know it's Labor Day in Noe - 10 years of Real Foods blight [@NikkiDreams]

[Photo: nicoco_xd]

NVV May 2013: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until the middle of the month.

May 2013

Front Page: The Town Square clears a major funding hurdle - the city looks set to buy the lots; Noe Valley wine makers will offer a taste of their wine at the May 11 Garden Tour, AT&T setting locations for the U-Verse broadband boxes - neighbors want them out of sight; local Mother's Day potraits.

Letters: A patron is upset with Walgreens' rewards program; an Elizabeth St. resident is still not happy about the de facto off-leash dog park status of Noe Courts; a Day St resident reports on the declining quality of Starbucks and La Bou since they merged; another Day St resident defends the blue bin recycling bandits: "on this small scale nobody suffers, the fellow makes a bit of change, Recology receives your same monthly payment... the police have more important things to do that deal with this pettiness..." [Ed.-- For the record, lost revenue from stolen recyclables is part of why your Sunset Scavenger rates are going up]. A Dolores St resident credits the NVV for shaming the owner of 1220-22 Church St into repainting.

Features and Short Takes: St. Luke's plans for a new 7-story hospital; Fair Oaks Street Fair (mega garage sale) is May 11 from 9am-5pm on Fair Oaks between 21st and 26th.

Cost of Living in Noe: Good luck finding a condo or single family home for under $1 million right now; the high mark was set by a 1900s cottage on 23rd St. that was updated and sold for $3.6 million.

Rumors: A truck driver gets his rig stuck on the ultra-steep 22nd St on April Fool's Day; look for sidewalk sales on 24th St on Saturday May 18 as part of Small Business Week; NV eagerly awaits the new eatery from the owners of La Ciccia called La Nebbia; the former Noe Valley Deli on 24th St is under construction [Ed.-- Griddle Fresh]; Mazook learns about what's in season at the Farmer's Market and why people like to hang out in Dolores Park; a clothing boutique on Church St. called Kitami Ropa is now officially open.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Real Foods: I Wish This Was...

It's been almost 10 years of lawsuits and blight since Real Foods abruptly shut its doors, and aside from the mural behind the glass this is one of the best things we've seen on site. From a frustrated neighbor:

Well, I've had these 10 stickers in my desk for probably 3 years now, always intending to go put them up at Real Food, and today I finally did! It wasn't more than a minute before people walked up and asked for my Sharpie so they could write on the stickers. The project is by Candy Chang and the stickers remove without any damage to the window, so it isn't vandalism. And really, after what will be TEN YEARS this September, when the heck are they going to make that space into something usable? What a waste!

Anyway, the responses that the first few people had were awesome. I'm sure the stickers will be gone by tomorrow, but for today I hope the 24th street walkers enjoy the statement.

As of 4:30 this afternoon there will still two blank stickers. What would you add? Some examples below.

[Candy Chang: I wish This Was]

Blight Watch: What's Up With 1220 Church St?

A letter to the Editor in the April 2013 Noe Valley Voice asked about the vacant 2-unit Edwardian at 1220-1222 Church St. We were able to report that the City considers it abandoned and an investigation is ongoing. Today we noticed scaffolding on the facade and demolition crews on site and dug a little deeper.

According to records on the Department of Building Inspection's website, an October 2005 complaint was filed by a tenant stated there was no heat and that water leaks were throughout apartment, and it snowballed from there. A Notice of Violation as issued for various issues with the code, but most significantly for an illegal unit in the garage.

Some of the minor violations were corrected and heat was provided by Feb 2006; the heat stopped working a month later. No permits were pulled to remove the illegal unit in the garage until Nov 2007. It appears the unit was removed, but the permit was never finalized and other structural problems remained.

A new complaint filed by the tenant in October 2008 stated the landlord had turned off the water. More inspections confirmed there was no water, and that other violations were still outstanding. There's no indication that the water was ever turned on, and there's no further communication from the tenant.

The latest complaint was filed in June 2012: "This building is vacant, Broken glass on the front area - Peeling paint, 2nd floor ceiling about to cave in; there is a lot of debris in the front area of the property behind their gate. Dry rot in the structure. Overgrown yard ... lots of weeds." Attempts to reach the owner have failed, and no one representing the property showed up to a hearing on April 2, 2013. It appears that the City may be trying to take control of the property and likely put it up for auction, but we can't confirm.

At this point, what we know for sure is that the building is owned by The Perez Family Trust and that they filed two Ellis Act Petitions in 2006 (PDF). We know that the complaints are outstanding, and we know there are no new construction or demolition permits. It would be interesting to know the history of how the family has fared and if this is a byproduct of a long foreclosure process.

At any rate, the scaffold hints at fresh paint and the noise from inside suggests this building could be inhabited sometime in the near future. Maybe - they better figure out the permit problems and make nice with the DBI.

[Photo: Google Street View]

This Week In Noe Valley: Election Results, Food Truck Reform, And The Perils Of GPS Directions

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• San Francisco voted (Certified results post December 4th) [SF Elections]
• Dennis Herrara helped clean up a blighted Noe Valley property [SF City Attorney]
• Truck driver follows GPS, gets stuck in Noe Valley [ABC7]
• Scott Wiener wants to make access to food trucks easier while protecting existing restaurants (and kids) [SF Biz Times]
• Chris Cosentino with Michael J Fox [@MeatMaven]

[Photo: @pud]

Vacated: 1513 Church St

Usually we'd say a business had "closed" but it was never clear that Realty World BLUE on Church St was ever open. Some IKEA furniture and a brochure in the window was the only sign of activity since "opening" in May. This week the space was abruptly cleared out.

That means the 1500 block of Church St is now an empty stretch with Heliotrope packing up next door, and La Sirena Botanica also still vacant. ADA remains a challenge at 1513-1515, and rumored seismic repairs for 1509 have not been permitted or started (but dry-rot at the rear porch has been repaired). Sadly, it could be a while before we see life on that block.

[NVSF: The Mystery Of 1513 Church St]
[NVSF: Moving: Heliotrope]
[NVSF: Closed: La Sirena Botanica]

Street Trees: 24th St Blight To Get Blightier

The two trees in front of Real Foods are set for removal at the request of the owner, who apparently came out of hiding. The notice states multiple trunk injuries, decay, etc. The notice also states that the trees will be replaced by the Noe Valley Association, which is great but will leave a gap in the canopy for some time.

If you'd like to make the building owner show up at request a hearing to appeal the trees' removal contact the DPW Urban Forestry department at 2323 Cesar Chavez St, SF CA 94124. You can fax your letter to (415) 695-2147.

Click the photo for complete info.

Labor Day Is (Still) Real Foods Day in Noe Valley

Labor Day 2010

It's Labor Day, which means you can always expect to see something posted  at the the blighted closed Real Foods space on 24th Street. Today, there were several printouts of articles and comments from around the blogosphere including this one from this blog and this one from SF Appeal … and a sheet to add more comments under each on the storefront. It was an attention getter - lots of people stopped to read.

The signs were up during the farmer's market and gone without a trace by 2PM. Is someone actually keeping tabs on the Real Foods space that closely? And is that a good sign or … ?

Closing: Joseph Andrade Floral

Open only a year and a half, high-end florist Joseph Andrade is closing up shop at 3961 24th St. They weren't open when we noticed the sign, but the clerk at Vivon confirms the listing is not for the downstairs space long-vacated by Qoio.

But what we really want to know: why are vacant spaces on 24th St almost always listed by Rockwell? How's that working out for everyone?

Opening: First American Title

First Republic Bank opening in the old Tuttimelon spot is still a rumor, but First American Title moving into Noe looks like a done deal.

We noticed this sign today at 1354 Castro St. @ Jersey today across from Walgreen's on the corner that use to be Michelle's Tailor. Michelle's recently wedged into the former nail salon spot next door, and First American Title will slide into its place. Here's what the building and space use to look like - and it appears to have changed hands recently.

A title company of the same name at 18th and Castro closed in 2008 because of market conditions - so maybe it's another sign of the times (that the real estate market is even hotter than usual again).

To recap: Nail salon out, title company in - that's trading up, right?

No indication of when First American Title will open but it looks imminent.

So What’s the Deal with Real Foods?

2009 broken window

Enough readers were wondering about the controversial blight space that once housed Real Foods, so we asked our D8 Supervisor, Scott Weiner what the plan was – and if he had any news to share. He answered quickly with this:

Real Foods is anything but "low priority." It's a thorn in the neighborhood's side, and I want to remove that thorn. I'm trying to figure out if there's a better way of communicating with Real Foods. I'm also trying to figure out if we can get them to sell the building so it can be transformed into a useful part of 24th Street.

Hmmm…  sounds like more of the same for now, and Labor Day is just around corner. Here’s hoping…

Got ideas for what Real Foods should become? Leave them in the comments (and please keep it more civil than on the last thread).

Tidbits: Opening and Moving in Noe

Press: Works on Paper is a new gallery/paperie that opened this month in East Noe on 22nd Street (yes, it's technically still Noe, though it feels alot like the Mission). The store carries artist prints, letterpress cards, one-of-a-kind wrapping paper, and hard-to-find and vintage architecture and photography books. It's a charming hipster-esque addition to the row of shops that includes Pot + Pantry, a gallery/kitchen store that sells vintage and new kitchen supplies a few doors down. 

Press: Works on Paper, 3492 22nd St. at Dolores
Pot+ Pantry, 3412 22nd St. at Guerrero

The Animal Company next to Firefly on 24^th Street is moving into the old Cover to Cover space. The pet store and aviary has been around since 1977 and carries parrots, macaws, cockatoos, finches, canaries, parakeets and more. No indication of exactly when the new digs will open but it looks imminent. And when it does open, "owners, Rick and Ellen French invite you and your pet to stop by their store, say hello, and get a treat."

The Animal Company, 1307 Castro St. at 24th

Rumor: Urban Cellars Vanishes?

A reader tipped us to this item about Urban Cellars (a.k.a. the wine store with the usually corny signs):

Did you see that the wine shop on 24th (between Chuch and Vicksburg) has a notice of uncollected rent from the landlord. Looks like they moved out in the middle of the night?

Urban Cellars has had a rocky year including getting its liquor license suspended in February 2010 and in Sept 2009 for selling alcohol to minors. And we saw a firesale happening there last weekend (50% off most merchandise) that didn't look like it could be good for business.

Anyone have any more details?

[NVSF: Urban Cellars: Closed By ABC]
[NVSF: Urban Cellars: Busted Again]