Millbrae Gateway turning to biotech to fill office space

“This is really the new reality of traditional office space in the post-pandemic environment,” Durkin said.

The Planning Commission approved the space to be used for biosafety 2 biotech businesses, Monday, Aug. 28, voting 3-0, with Vice Chair Alan Wong recused. The permit will allow the upper stories of the building to be used for biotech business and about 1,600 square feet of the ground floor for minor biotech ancillary uses. Biosafety level 2 involves working with moderate-risk agents that are already present in the community such as influenza, salmonella, lyme disease and HIV, according to a staff report.

The change in use will mean some small changes in the building’s design such as altering the current windows into a louver system, replacing ground floor glass on the east side of the building and replacing it with a louver wall and stucco to match the finish.

The building at 166 North Rollins Road is a six-story, 157,000 square-foot office building with three levels of parking and ground floor commercial space. It is one of three buildings newly developed at the site of the Intermodal Station parking lot, which is occupied by a hotel and two housing developments equaling 400 units, multiple ground floor retail spaces. However, since the near $1 billion development was completed in April, the office space has remained vacant.

While Commissioner Nathan Chan said he sympathizes with the developer’s struggles to find tenants, he asked Durkin if Republic Urban has considered converting the space for housing.

“What’s also been in the news a lot, office to housing conversions as one way to utilize, underutilized office space and also address the housing shortage,” Chan said.

The idea was thrown around but Durkin said the developer is heavily invested in the space and it doesn’t pencil financially.

Chan also mentioned the site’s proximity to the transit station and San Francisco International Airport asking Durkin if the developer considered increasing its retail footprint to the upper floors, instead of biotech. That wasn’t considered, she said, because it retailers prefer ground-floor spaces and there is still vacant retail space at the site.

Chan asked if the biotech labs will be facing the residents opposite of the entrance of the site at the Rollins apartment building, which houses 80 affordable housing units that are veteran-preferred. Chan’s concern is biotech lab use can be at all hours of the night and bright lights can become a nuisance.

Republic Urban considered the issue and plans to have the biotech labs facing the parking garage, she said. The developer owns the Rollins and would adjust if it became a problem, Durkin said, adding the developers want all their tenants to be happy.

The conversion is still in its early stages and will still need to be reviewed and approved by the Airport Land Use Committee, Airport Land Use Commission and the City Council.

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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