I remember seeing a condo complex on top of a Ralph’s in San Diego: the Ralph’s was 24 hour and it always struck me as being incredibly convenient (the condos had an elevator direct into the store) - who needs a pantry at all when you have a 24hr grocery store literally five seconds away?
There is a supermarket in Boston over an interstate highway. The store is nothing special so I never thought much of it but now I'm really wondering what kind of political gymnastics had to occur to make that happen. At this point it's such a landmark that traffic reports refer to it as "the supermarket."
I used to live above the Safeway near the Giants baseball stadium in San Francisco - it wasn’t 24 hours at the time (not sure if it is now) but you’re right, it was crazy convenient.
Far less food waste too, I’d rarely buy more than a bag’s worth of food at a time and would just go shop 3+ times per week.
It's the supermarket doesn't want housing on top. If it is the only way to get the location and the location is incredibly good, then the supermarket will accept it. Leasing to a supermarket is incredibly more profitable than leasing or selling housing.