Downtown San Diego's long-promised Whole Foods Market appears to be nearing the finish line, with new indications suggesting the highly anticipated grocery store could open as soon as September 29. The supermarket is taking shape at 201 West A Street, occupying the lower levels of The Torrey, Holland Partner Group's massive new residential tower spanning the block bounded by Front, A, Union and B streets. The 34-story development includes 450 apartments and approximately 49,500 square feet of retail space, according to City of San Diego development records.
A recent public post claimed a construction worker at the project identified September 29 as the scheduled opening date. The report immediately generated excitement among downtown residents, several of whom described the supermarket as a significant addition to a part of the city where full-service grocery options remain comparatively limited.
SanDiegoVille has not independently confirmed September 29 with Whole Foods, and the date should be treated as a target rather than a guaranteed grand opening. Construction schedules, final inspections, stocking, employee training and other operational requirements can push supermarket openings forward or backward, sometimes at relatively short notice.
There is, however, substantial evidence that the store is getting very close. Whole Foods is now actively recruiting employees specifically for its downtown San Diego location. Current company job listings identify the store as "10799-DTS Downtown San Diego," give its address as 201 W. A Street and describe the new market as "Opening Late Summer 2026." Positions being recruited include grocery team members responsible for stocking, inventory, floor service and customer service. That makes a late-September debut increasingly plausible, although September 29 technically falls just after the astronomical end of summer this year.
The opening would represent a significant milestone not merely for Whole Foods, but for downtown San Diego's continuing transformation from a primarily employment, tourism and entertainment district into a densely populated residential neighborhood. The new store will occupy roughly 40,000 to 50,000 square feet across the ground floor and mezzanine of The Torrey. Holland Partner Group Managing Director Brent Schertzer recently said the developer turned the space over to Whole Foods at the end of 2025 and that the grocer was already completing its own interior work.
And unlike Whole Foods' notoriously tight Hillcrest parking situation, the downtown store won't be relying exclusively on customers arriving on foot. According to Holland Partner Group, two levels of The Torrey's garage will be dedicated to Whole Foods, providing 176 parking spaces for supermarket customers. The larger development contains more than 500 additional spaces serving residents and visitors.
The location is also particularly well positioned for customers who don't drive. Front and A streets sits within walking distance of thousands of apartments throughout the Columbia District, Downtown Core, Cortez Hill and southern portions of Little Italy, as well as multiple trolley stations and major bus routes.
Although the project has frequently been described as being in or adjacent to Little Italy, the store is technically farther into downtown than many residents would consider Little Italy proper. That distinction became its own debate beneath Monday's Reddit post, with commenters arguing over whether the site should be considered the Core, Columbia or Little Italy. Whatever neighborhood label ultimately wins, its location puts Whole Foods within easy walking distance of all three surrounding downtown areas.
The store will anchor The Torrey, a roughly $440 million project developed by Holland Partner Group on land once occupied by San Diego's former downtown courthouse complex. The residential tower has been designed with extensive landscaping and a large ninth-floor nature deck inspired by San Diego's native environment and its namesake Torrey pine.
Holland has increasingly reshaped this portion of downtown. Immediately nearby is West, its approximately $510 million mixed-use tower at 1011 Union Street containing 431 apartments, roughly 289,000 square feet of office space and additional retail. Holland has also discussed creating another landscaped outdoor amenity between the developments.
For residents, however, the supermarket downstairs may ultimately prove more consequential than any rooftop amenity. Downtown has added thousands of residential units over the past two decades without developing a comparably extensive network of major supermarkets. Ralphs on G Street remains one of downtown's principal traditional grocery stores, while Albertsons serves East Village and Grocery Outlet provides another option farther east. Other promised grocery projects haven't always materialized.
Sprouts Farmers Market, for example, was once expected to become a major grocery anchor of the enormous redevelopment of the former Horton Plaza property. That project has since faced considerable difficulties, leaving another anticipated downtown supermarket unrealized.
Whole Foods has its own history of failing to make it across the finish line downtown. Nearly a decade ago, the company was expected to anchor the proposed 7th & Market development, an ambitious project that was also slated to contain San Diego's first Ritz-Carlton hotel. Whole Foods ultimately withdrew, Ritz-Carlton followed and the development collapsed.
When plans emerged in 2024 for Whole Foods to anchor what was then commonly referred to as the Front & A development, there was therefore understandable reason for skepticism. This time, there is little question that the store is real. The tower has been built. Whole Foods has control of its space. Construction is visibly progressing. The company is hiring employees for the address and telling applicants the store is opening in late summer. The remaining question is essentially when the doors unlock.
The downtown opening is also part of a surprisingly significant new expansion by Whole Foods Market in San Diego County. Whole Foods currently operates established area stores including Hillcrest, La Jolla and Del Mar, but additional markets are now planned for Carmel Mountain Ranch and Encinitas. The Encinitas project will return Whole Foods to a city it previously exited in 2017, taking over the former Kohl's space at Encinitas Marketplace as part of a major renovation of the shopping center.
The downtown store, however, is fundamentally different from a conventional suburban supermarket. Rather than anchoring a shopping center surrounded by surface parking, it is being inserted directly beneath hundreds of apartments and within walking distance of thousands more. That is precisely the type of grocery infrastructure necessary if San Diego wants downtown residents to realistically accomplish more of their daily errands without getting into a car. Holland Partner Group has made that reasoning explicit. Schertzer said the developer determined that a grocer was the right type of retail amenity to bring to this portion of downtown.
For Whole Foods, it also offers access to an unusually concentrated customer base. Residents of The Torrey will effectively have a major supermarket downstairs, while residents of nearby high-rises will suddenly have Whole Foods within a few blocks.
Reaction from those residents suggests the demand is there. Monday's Reddit discussion was filled with people celebrating the prospect of walking to the store, including one Marina District resident who said living without a car currently leaves them heavily dependent on Ralphs. Another commenter simply declared, "This is going to change my life."
That enthusiasm helps explain why the opening has attracted so much attention before Whole Foods has even formally announced a grand-opening date. After nearly a decade of Whole Foods proposals appearing and disappearing downtown, this one is no longer a rendering or a promise buried in development documents. Workers are finishing the store and Whole Foods is hiring the people who will operate it.
If the reported September 29 target holds, downtown San Diego's long wait could be over in approximately seven weeks.
And even if construction or final preparations push that date back, all indications now point toward the same conclusion: downtown San Diego is finally getting its Whole Foods.
Originally published on August 11, 2026.
