Whole Building Razed At La Boulange Inner Sunset Site

The demolition you see here is at 1224 9th Avenue in the Inner Sunset, the site of the controversial future La Boulange. Let's recall for a moment the interesting story of this particular outpost of Pascal Rigo's once-local French cafe chain. Back in 2010, a proposed Inner Sunset location at the nearby Bistro 9 site (1224 9th Avenue) was already fielding much opposition as neighbors feared La Boulange was "getting a bit to much like starbucks [sic]." The project was denied in January of 2011. Then Rigo came back the following year with a plan and a beautiful rendering depicting his vision for the nearby parking lot and former funeral home at 1266 9th Avenue. Arizmendi vociferously opposed it, but the branch gained approval anyway, and Rigo said it wouldn't open until next year, adding that he wanted to do a big build-out in the existing building.

About a month and a half later, came the whole Starbucks acquisition, and then the 9th Avenue building was totally demolished. Everyone knows Rigo has $100M extra dollars to play with now, so it's likely this outpost will be even more glamorous than initially planned. A new structure is being built from the ground up, and Rigo's representatives say the project is still "under design." The footprint is rather large, as the old structure had a parking lot, but it's still unclear if they'll construct across the entire lot, or retain some much needed parking. Either way, this rendering is probably in the trash can. Thoughts on this future La Boulange and where it's headed? Put them in the comments.

· All La Boulange Inner Sunset Coverage [~ ESF ~]