I don't think you'd have much luck going the eviction route as they seem to be bordering on the professional tenant side of things in terms of avoiding possessions. 

Competitive Strategy and Operations: How do you maintain operational competitiveness against larger chains like Wawa, especially in terms of pricing, service speed, and customer experience?

It gives you flexibility to increase future rents and it gives the tenant security in terms of having the option to stay there.

Overall, there are a ton of really helpful suggestions in the replies here so I think you should definetley weigh some options in terms of if your goal is to keep the tenants or have the units be up to market rent. 

In terms of actual areas in the bay, do folks recommend one of the following:South Bay <SC, Sunnyvale>; East Bay <Berkeley>; TriValley <Dublin> or SFOr would you recommend sitting on the sidelines, wait and watch, and do a HYSA/CD to see how/where the market heads ?

A bit more and your options (in terms of deal flow) open up significantly.All that said, if it makes sense for your goals you should absolutely stay local.

They are safe in terms of HOA taking care of exterior, roofs, driveways, snow removal, etc.

My lowest monthly appreciation in terms of dollars is $2600/month over the hold period.  

@Alec Jacobs downtown Beaver Falls can be good for cash flow but I wouldn't expect much upside long term in terms of rent/value growth there.

Competitive Strategy and Operations: How do you maintain operational competitiveness against larger chains like Wawa, especially in terms of pricing, service speed, and customer experience?