These sentiments were palpable on April 1 when a couple dozen residents lined the sidewalk in front of the comparatively quaint Marina Safeway’s parking lot to protest the proposal to level the 67-year-old grocery store and build the 25-story behemoth, which would graze the state’s height limit.

Prominent local developer Align Real Estate is sponsoring the redevelopment. Through a partnership with Safeway, it aims to bring 790 apartments, retail and an underground parking garage to the affluent waterfront neighborhood. The project recently cleared an important hurdle when the city deemed it eligible for streamlined approval amid a statewide housing affordability crisis. The city has to make a final decision on the development by August.

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Safeway has made an aggressive push into real estate in the last several months after being previously reluctant to build out its valuable land holdings. A past attempt by Safeway to develop housing alongside a new grocery store in the Outer Mission failed.

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In San Francisco alone, Align has introduced plans to build nearly 3,500 units of housing in the Marina, Bernal Heights, the Outer Richmond and the Fillmore District. To the south in San Mateo, Align submitted plans in early March to transform a Safeway along El Camino Real into a seven-story building with nearly 400 units of housing.

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When the city of San Mateo identified a Safeway at 1655 S. El Camino Real as a potential location for new housing, Lisa Taner of Concerned Citizens of San Mateo never imagined it would actually be developed. But in March, Align filed an application to build a new ground-floor Safeway store, 396 multifamily residential units on the top floors and 643 parking spaces at the location. Some 55 of the units would be designated as affordable.