Millbrae, California High-Speed Rail Authority reach settlement

Disagreement over the land use had stymied a planned development of a nine-story building with 488 apartments and nearly 300,000 square feet of office space, which Millbrae officials had argued was a necessity for the city’s economic development.

The mixed-use housing development — planned for a location between the tracks and El Camino Real — had been signed off on by the city in 2018, however, Millbrae staff previously said the land had been slated for development use in 1998.

That plan was in direct conflict with the High-Speed Rail Authority’s vision to follow through on the rail project, approved by voters in 2008, with a stop at the Millbrae station. Designs for an underground rail station — which would have allowed the city to continue its development plans — were financially infeasible for the transit organization.

Subsequent plans for an aboveground rail station that would share space with BART and Caltrain originally required that a large portion of the western parcel be developed into a multiple surface level parking lot with over 700 spaces, per an environmental impact report from the rail authority. That caused the city to sue under eminent domain law, arguing that affordable housing would be a greater public good than the required parking lot.

Now, however, the settlement agreement allows both parties to succeed at their respective goals, Fung said.

“The settlement today represents our agreement ... that we maintain the west side of the station in terms of our land use control so that we can further guide the future development,” he said. “High-speed rail will get the land that they need in order to build out their rails, their tracks and the future stations.”

Exact ownership of the western parcel is being worked out, but Millbrae will remain the lead agency on facilitating development and retain planning control, Fung said.

The settlement action — which stipulates that Millbrae and the rail authority will work together to ensure integrated, transit-oriented development — is necessary for Millbrae to continue to develop into an economically prosperous city, City Manager Tom Williams said in a press release from both the city and the rail authority.

“Transit-oriented development to the east of the Millbrae BART station is one of the reasons for the city’s current economic vitality, and this agreement prioritizes transit-oriented development for the west side of the station soon,” he said.

The agreement will also allow for continued progress on the high-speed rail project, which is currently working to extend the 119 miles of track under construction into 171 miles, from Merced to Bakersfield, the press release said. Current cost estimations for the full project sit at over $100 billion.

“This agreement reflects our continued commitment to collaboration with local partners like the City of Millbrae,” Ian Choundri, High-Speed Rail Authority CEO, said in the press release. “It helps accelerate our path to bringing high-speed rail into the Bay Area — unlocking opportunity, mobility and economic growth through fast, clean and affordable transportation.”