Condo, Retail Project Proposed Near Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo

Posted on April 8, 2016 by publisher8 by Nancy Amdur

More residential units may be coming to San Mateo with a local development group’s proposal for a condominium-and-retail project at 2700 S. El Camino Real.

City planners are reviewing the Millbrae-based Hillsdale Terraces, LLC’s application for a five-story project, which would include approximately 74 condominiums and 15,880 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The site would combine three parcels covering the block between 27th and 28th avenues. One parcel is occupied by San Mateo Auto Sales and was a former Taxi’s Hamburgers restaurant. Existing structures on the site would be demolished, according to the city’s Web site. Hillsdale Terraces President George Lam did not respond to requests for comment about the project.

The mixed-use project would be located about a half-mile north of the Hillsdale Caltrain Station and Hillsdale Shopping Center, with anchors including Nordstrom and Macy’s. In a project description submitted to the city, the developer said its plans would “support the city’s efforts to concentrate development along major transit corridors.”

“It is in a transit-oriented development area,” added Tricia Schimpp, a city planner. “It makes sense to have higher density there.”

Much development is expected in the neighborhood. There are plans to shift the Hillsdale Caltrain station a couple blocks north of its current location at 3333 S. El Camino Real, which would bring it closer to the proposed Hillsdale Terraces site.

Hillsdale Terraces would “act as a buffer between the future Hillsdale station and the residential blocks west of El Camino Real,” according to the developer’s project description submitted to the city.

Also, San Mateo plans to make 25th, 28th and 31st avenues major east-west corridors by extending the streets to continue below the tracks, connecting Delaware Street to El Camino Real. The two-year grade separation project is slated to start in 2017, Schimpp said. Additionally, the grade separations would connect the Hillsdale Caltrain station to the 83-acre Bay Meadows residential, retail and office community.

Also in the neighborhood, Bohannon Development Co. is seeking city approval to redevelop the 12.5-acre block on the north end of Hillsdale Shopping Center. The development would include nearly 300,000 square feet of additional retail, dining and entertainment space.

Hillsdale Terraces’ preliminary plans call for the 43,509-square-foot site to include one-, two- and three-bedroom units along with three levels of below-grade parking. San Francisco-based Costa Brown Architecture is working on the project. Design revisions are underway, Schimpp said, but early plans call for amenities to include a roof deck and fitness center. Site improvements would include landscaping, streetscape and public art, according to the city’s Web site.

A Planning Commission public hearing will be scheduled once staff has reviewed the design and proposal, which likely will be in two to three months, Schimpp said.