> This store was opened in 2022 and presumably the decision to open it was made in 2021

I think it was earlier than that. Pre-pandemic. Here's an article talking about it in early 2018. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-s-massi...

Pre-pandemic, one of several possible narratives about that area was that Twitter had moved in successfully and trends were looking up. That was the sort of optimism that brought Whole Foods. I remember that there were some local reactions that they could be getting ahead of themselves.