24th Street Real Foods Building Changes Hands
After more than two years of fighting between the building owner and the tenant at the former Real Foods location on 24th Street in Noe Valley, the tenant has bought the building which hypothetically opens the door for immediate renovations and a re-opening of the grocery store.
From this month’s Noe Valley Voice, “Real Food’s Utah-based parent company, Nutraceutical Corporation (which also does business as Fresh Organics, Inc.), terminated 30 employees and shuttered the organic grocery store on Aug. 28, 2003, ostensibly for the purpose of a long-overdue remodeling. The fired workers accused the company of closing in order to halt their unionizing efforts and filed a lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).”
“While the NLRB took its time reaching a decision this summer, Nutraceutical and building owners Jane and Kimball Allen, who are Marin County residents, fought a separate legal battle over who should pay for extensive repairs to the storefront at 3939 24th Street. In early November, the Allens sold the building that houses Real Food to Nutraceutical. Although a jury trial had been scheduled for next spring, the legal action was dismissed in its entirety on Nov. 15.”
“Given the vagaries of the permit process, [the tenant's representative] said he was unable to estimate a completion date. According to the Department of Building Inspection’s web site, no new permit applications for the property have been filed since the sale.”
