Burlingame building to reduce height

“Again, we are trading this height limit for public benefit,” Michael Gaul, chair of the Planning Commission, said.

The developing architect, M. Arthur Gensler & Associates Inc. responded to the commission’s height concerns with a 32-foot reduction if their building is approved by January 2023 for a concrete structure, totaling its height to 194 feet. If the developers do not get it approved by this January they will revert to a steel structured building, thus only reducing the building by 14 feet. It would then reach 212 feet making it the second tallest building on the Bayfront by a foot.

Gensler architect Ben Tranel said the design changes of the building reduced the height and broke down the massing of the building by introducing a scalloped facade.

“The inspiration behind the look was a sail literally catching the wind,” Tranel said. He described it as not only aesthetically pleasing but functional in that the facade.

Additionally the all-electric building will meet new codes Burlingame has in place.

“The revised plan is a prime example of how the city’s design review process makes projects better,” said Huffman, vice president of planning and entitlements at Lincoln Property Company, the applicant and property owner.

Public amenities included in the project’s plans are a half-acre park along the shoreline edge, a 7,800-square-foot public plaza and an inviting portico adjacent to the building where the public cafe would be located.

Additionally, the properties landscape plans include: 15,000 square feet of perennial and native plantings, a picnic plaza, public street art, a widened Bay trail that connects to Airport Boulevard, and a sloped lawn amphitheater.

While the Planning Commission was encouraged by the developers’ updates that addressed previous concerns, some still felt like a single cafe would not be a large enough compromise to attract Burlingame residents to the property.

“Developers always say, well nobody is going to go out there, we are throwing you a bone by giving you this little cafe, and I say, Kincaid’s is out there all by itself and there’s a lot of times you can’t even find a seat in that place, so if you have something that is nice and workable, people will come,” Gaul said.

A public comment was made by Adrienne Lee who suggested a rooftop restaurant with Bay views could be a solution to finding the balance of public benefit to the property.

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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