Burlingame’s big biotech proposal

“There’s a number of outstanding new developments that have been constructed or are underway up and down Airport Boulevard and we are excited to be part of that transformation,” said Marc Huffman, a representative of Lincoln Property Company, the developer overseeing the project.

The building, if approved, would replace an existing Red Roof Inn and 24-hour diner Leann’s Cafe just south of Burlingame Soccer Complex off Anza Boulevard. It would yield 403,000 square feet of office space plus a 957 car garage that would comprise the second through sixth floors, with the ground floor containing a lobby and “retail and amenity” space. Plans also indicate considerable landscaping and a park area to be added around the building with improvements to the adjacent Bay trail.

But commissioners were split on whether the building’s height was acceptable, with some members requesting modeling of the area indicating how the structure would stack up to others planned nearby, or suggesting underground parking.

“I feel like this building is just way too big,” said Commissioner Sandy Comaroto, who along with others indicated the height could be acceptable if the building’s design was improved. “It’s just kind of a big box.”

She pointed to a much larger campus being built down the street on Old Bayshore Highway, set to have three buildings topping out at just more than 200 feet tall each. “Architecturally they did a really nice job, and that’s something I would look for in a project like this,” she said. “I want them to pull out the stops for this.”

Commissioners also requested a stronger retail element be added, like a restaurant or coffee shop. Noted was a nature preserve being planned for the area and a TopGolf facility in the works, but little else apart from the Bay trail to attract weekend and evening activity.

“For people to enjoy a plaza you have to give them a reason to go there that’s not just a place to sit down,” Commission Chair Michael Gaul said.

Huffman said a coffee shop, likely open to the public, could be part of the lobby area but it would be “tenant oriented.” Regarding the height, he said underground parking had been looked at but to use part of the foundation for the existing hotel at the site, it had been ruled out. Additionally, he said, a taller building would allow for more open space near the lagoon.

“We wanted to try to maximize that space as much as we could, so that’s what drove going higher,” he said. “It’s a taller building, unquestionably.”

Commissioners Chris Horan and Sean Lowenthal, offering an opinion differing from their colleagues, said the building’s height was acceptable, as it was in line with the city’s general plan.

“I don’t fault the developer for maximizing what we’ve allowed in that zone,” Horan said.

Further, Lowenthal said comparing the building to its surroundings meant comparing it to “some very old and … very ugly” architecture.

“So yes, this will stand out, I feel like in a good way though,” he said. “I know life science R&D — they can’t build it fast enough for the demand. I love to have the tax dollars and the interest level come to Burlingame.”

He added that while a restaurant would be nice for the area, it may not be viable as a self-sustaining operation, given that “this is a terrible area to have a retail location.”

Gaul countered that while it might not be profitable, it should be part of the “community benefit” that the developer is required to provide.

He and Vice Chair Jennifer Pfaff, however, also recalled that when the nearby Burlingame Point campus, now Facebook’s Reality Labs headquarters, had been approved by the city, the developer had promised a large retail area that was to include restaurants, stores and even a day care that never came to fruition.

“They promised a lot,” Pfaff said. “We were left at the end of the day with no day care, just this tiny little cafe, which I guess is publicly accessible, but it’s a far cry from what we started at. So, I don’t know that there’s so much that [the developer] can control.”

The Planning Commission will reconvene on the item for a vote at a later date. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission will also need to issue approval for the project to move forward.

corey@smdailyjournal.com

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