Development at former Talbot’s site in downtown San Mateo reviewed

“This is a really interesting opportunity,” Commissioner Martin Wiggins said. “It’s exciting to reinvigorate this block.”

The two-building site would have one seven-story residential building at 76 feet offering, while the second commercial building is five stories and 74 feet. The housing building would be 13 studio units, 13 one-bedroom, 17 two-bedroom and 17 three-bedroom units for rent. The units would be below-market-rate housing for low-income people, with rent based on the area’s median income. The retail building would have ground floor retail space along South B Street and office space on the remaining levels. An underground parking garage would provide 128 parking spaces, with 37 for residents. A staff report said the state density bonus law supersedes Measure Y, a 2020 voter initiative, allowing for larger density and height options for the project.

According to a city staff report, the project, called Bespoke, is a public-private partnership between the city and developers at Harvest Properties, Prometheus and Alta Housing. The City Council picked the developers for the project in July 2021. The city will contribute the Fourth Avenue parking lot site through a long-term ground lease, along with $2 million. The project must have all affordable housing, maximize housing and space on the bottom floor for retail, including a space for the local nonprofit Self-Help for the Elderly. The site is around 1.16 acres. Developers said the project presents a chance to increase retail space catered toward a mix of uses. Public officials view the site as an opportunity to address the affordable housing crisis, with it not far from public transit and the downtown core.

The site will redevelop the entire block between Fourth and Fifth avenues, from B Street to Railroad Avenue, which includes the parking lot on Fourth Avenue and the former Talbot’s Toyland store site. The site also has Bay Home & Linens and restaurants Pokeatry and Tomatina.

The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal at its Oct. 12 meeting during a study session. The group asked for more housing to address the jobs to housing imbalance in the city and for architecture and building massing changes.

Commissioner Adam Nugent praised the project for creating jobs and commerce downtown. Still, he and others wanted less commercial use and more housing to improve the city’s jobs to housing imbalance.

“It’s not the fault of the people in this room or the people that are involved in city government,” Nugent said. “We have found ourselves in a situation where we have become outrageously distorted as far as the number of jobs we’ve created and the number of houses that are able to be built.”

Commissioner Seema Patel said the city, from 2010 to 2020, created 7.6 jobs per every unit of housing.

“I think we can all agree that is not good and is contributing to the skyrocketing housing costs, displacement and increase in vehicles miles traveled and greenhouse gas emission,” Patel said.

She noted the project was eligible for more housing under state density bonus laws and wanted to see more housing to justify the commercial project aspects. Patel and the Planning Commission called for less building mass and a simplified design to address public concerns. The commission asked for further architecture review addressing the building massing size and the rooftop shape.

“This design has too much articulation of mass,” Patel said. “I prefer simpler forms.”

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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