A proposed eight-story north Burlingame apartment building with 311 units received a mostly positive review from the city’s Planning Commission this week, advancing the plans to replace a vacant building at 1766 El Camino Real.
The 504,000-square-foot project would occupy a 1.7-acre parcel, with a partially below ground two-story parking garage providing 319 spots. A plan to construct a mixed residential and commercial building at the location was approved last year, but the developer chose not to proceed with the project. A new developer, Carmel Partners, is proposing the entirely residential building.
“It’s a handsome building, it looks residential in feel, it’s got good use of materials,” Commissioner Richard Terrones said.
Planning Commission Vice Chair William Loftis, however, called the exterior “frenetic” and requested architects make revisions to enhance cohesiveness. He emphasized that the location was prominent and serves as a “gateway” to the city.
“It’s just got way too much stuff going on. It feels to me like there are a lot of willful design maneuvers that are without substance,” he said. “This building is not holding together as a whole.”
The project would include 37 studio units, 137 one-bedroom units, 120 two-bedroom units and 17 three-bedroom units. The average apartment size would be 930 square feet. Included would be 22 below-market rate units with rents affordable to people earning half the county’s median income — $1,598 for a studio or $1,713 for a one bedroom.
The affordable units would be provided in exchange for the building’s density exceeding that otherwise allowed by the city, per the state’s density bonus law. The law in this case allows the developer to add 72 units on top of the maximum allowed by local zoning.
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The site is a half mile from the Millbrae BART and Caltrain station and adjacent to a SamTrans bus stop. Greg Pasquali, a representative of the developer, said he hoped residents would take advantage of the walkability of the urban location.
“We like this site because its near transit, its near jobs and importantly it’s near the services people need to enjoy life in a city like this, you can walk to not one but two grocery stores,” he said.
The site is the former home of the Peninsula Museum of Art, which was displaced after the property owner terminated the lease with plans to move forward redevelopment. The museum has since relocated to the Shops at Tanforan in San Bruno.
It is also adjacent to the Burlingame police station, which the building would partially wrap around. City planning staff mentioned the department had concerns that the height of the building could interfere with the department radio communications system.
“I hope that the communications issue with the police department can be sorted out and it doesn’t become an insurmountable hurdle,” Terrones said.
The development will go before the Planning Commission again at a later date for final approval.
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