Raley’s scuttles plan for homeless shelter at former store site on Freeport in Sacramento

The old Raley’s supermarket location on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento won’t be turned into a homeless shelter, after all.

Although its parking lot was designated as a potential homeless site in May by City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, the supermarket chain said Wednesday that it has other plans for the location.

“We’ve told the council member that the site’s not available,” Raley’s spokeswoman Chelsea Minor said.

The Raley’s location was one of 47 potential locations identified by council members as the city struggles to get a handle on its homeless population. Mayor Darrell Steinberg had called on every council member to come up with sites in their district in an effort to prevent NIMBYism.

While some of the sites are properties owned by government agencies, others are on private property. The Raley’s site in particular had generated controversy as the Freeport Boulevard commercial strip is a major thoroughfare for the Land Park and Hollywood Park neighborhoods.

Craig Rutledge, president of the Land Park Community Association, said Raley’s announcement came on the eve of a major meeting of his organization Wednesday night in the park’s amphitheater.

“I’m sure Raley’s doesn’t want that big homeless center next to their new store,” Rutledge said. He said he thinks Valenzuela chose the Raley’s site “on a whim.”

Valenzuela said Raley’s announcement doesn’t necessarily scrap the idea. She said it was always understood that the city would wait until Raley’s had secured a new tenant and then approach that tenant about using a portion of the lot for a “safe parking site” for homeless families that have cars.

“We could be front of store, we could be back of store,” she said. The site would also include showers and other facilities, she said.

She said the Raley’s site was chosen “based on community surveys — not a whim.”

City spokesman Tim Swanson said sites for “safe ground, safe parking, shelters, tiny homes and other housing solutions” identified in each district will be “folded into a city-wide plan to bring thousands of people into safer living situations equipped with services to help them transition into longer-term housing.” The plan is scheduled for a vote at the City Council on Aug. 10.

Raley’s vacated the site in April 2020 after opening a new flagship store a block away. Minor said Raley’s was close to finding a new tenant for the old store until the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled the agreement, but the company thinks it is close to landing someone else.

For now, the old store is being used for Raley’s e-commerce operations, she said.

Raley’s, which controls the site through a long-term lease, has promised nearby residents that it would fill the location with a “quality tenant,” Minor said.

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 11:17 AM.