Whole Foods Headed To The Haight

Pretty soon those hooligans on Haight Street will be able to get gourmet “Whole Paws” hip and joint formula dog biscuits for their pit bulls. (If they’re still around, that is.)

Would you prefer this or a boarded-up Cala?

The Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve a 24-hour Whole Foods Market to replace the former Cala Foods store on the northeast corner of Haight and Stanyan streets that has sat shuttered since 2006.

The project is a dramatically scaled down version of one the commission approved in October 2008 that would have included 62 condo units in a four-story building, with the grocery store on the ground floor.

That plan proved controversial for some neighborhood groups and ultimately wasn’t built after the economy tanked.

The current version will remain within the footprint of the old Cala store and had strong support at the commission Thursday, with people cheering the return of a full-service grocery store to the neighborhood.

A Whole Foods official said they hoped to have the store open sometime this year.

© John Cote,  San Francisco Chroncile