The approval, which became public this week, relies on two state housing laws to sidestep local land-use rules and public input. Under Assembly Bill 2011, a 2022 law designed to spur housing production, eligible projects can skip discretionary review and environmental challenges. The process is ministerial: if a project meets the criteria, the city must approve it.

Align also qualified for a 49.3% density bonus by setting aside 86 units for low-income households, which allowed the developer to waive the site's 40-foot height limit and build the tower.

The decision has infuriated many Marina residents, who have argued that the project is out of scale with the neighborhood and will cast shadows on the Marina Green and Fort Mason. In their letter, planners acknowledged the tower "may create some new shadow" on the parks but concluded it "would not be significant or adversely impact the use of the park."

A federal lawsuit challenging the project is pending, though its specific claims were not detailed in the approval letter.

With planning approval in hand, Align can now apply for permits to demolish the existing store and excavate the site. Safeway would eventually return to the ground floor of the new building with a 63,000-square-foot grocery store, more than 20,000 square feet larger than the current one.

The approval underscores the tension between state-mandated housing production and local control in San Francisco, where skyrocketing housing costs have prompted lawmakers in Sacramento to pass laws like AB 2011 that limit cities' ability to reject dense housing near transit and commercial corridors. For Marina residents, the decision represents a loss of neighborhood input; for housing advocates, it is a rare victory in a city that has long struggled to build its way out of a severe shortage.