The Hillsdale development is still working through final details of its application to the city, as it was recently deemed incomplete again.
The massive redevelopment project officially kicked off last year from Bohannon Properties and proposes to demolish the current mall south of 31st Avenue and replace it with a mix of office, retail and multiunit developments, totaling over 4 million square feet. Several eight- to 10-story commercial buildings are proposed along El Camino Real, with a mix of multi-unit residential buildings and townhomes.
The city has previously made incomplete determinations on the project on the earlier stages. Most recently, its letter stated that floor and demolition plan details needed to be provided.
“The applicant did not formally submit phasing plans that indicate the proposed demolition would be conducted in phases. However, it should be noted that at the City Council study session … the applicant presented a phasing plan that identifies that the existing structures would be demolished in phases,” the letter read.
David Bohannon, president of Bohannon Properties, said the back-and-forth is expected, especially with a project of this size.
“We are just going through a process with the city to get through a lot of details. It’s not unusual that the city has questions about information we provided as part of their checklist,” Bohannon said. “It’s thousands of pages, and we are down to just a couple items so we feel pretty good about it.”
Recommended for you
The team must submit the necessary information within 120 days, according to the letter.
“I don’t think we are going to take that long,” Bohannon said. “I would be surprised if we are not deemed complete shortly.”
The Hillsdale development is one of the biggest development proposals the city has received in recent years.
The project will also be a key source of the city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation, or state-mandated housing goals. San Mateo must accommodate 7,015 units between 2023-31, and the project would satisfy about 20% of that requirement — though the entire development will likely take over a decade to fully build out.
With the passage of Measure T in 2024, however, which raised height and density limits, the application has been far from the only large proposal. In fact, according to a recent housing progress report , the city’s development pipeline already meets almost all of its RHNA goals for the 2023-31 cycle, though it remains to be seen how many of those will reach the construction stage in the next several years.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.