Mixed-use project in San Mateo gets 2 years extension

“Our hope is the time will help us heal enough to get started on the project,” Myers said at a June 27 Planning Commission meeting. “It is a phenomenal project and phenomenal location.”

The project site is about 14.5 acres on Concar Drive between South Grant and South Delaware streets, currently occupied by Concar Shopping Center. The redevelopment would tear down all the retail buildings and rebuild the Trader Joe’s, 7-Eleven and Peninsula Ballet Theatre currently at the site. The development would also have a food hall, day care facility and other retail and restaurant uses. The development calls for 961 residential units, 73 affordable, with 40,000 square feet for commercial uses. There would be one level of parking at grade level and one below grade. A new street would cut into the site from Concar Drive and exit at the center of Delaware Street.

California Coastal Properties requested the extension for its vesting tentative map due to the existing economic conditions that make the project financially infeasible under current circumstances, according to a letter from representatives of California Coastal Properties. A vesting tentative map allows for merging parcels and redrawing the lot lines. The parcels under consideration for development are 640, 666, 678 and 690 Concar Drive; 1820 and 1880 S. Grant St. and 1855 S. Delaware St. The vesting tentative map expiration was Aug. 17. The city previously approved a one-year extension in 2022. The applicant also asked for a two-year extension of the execution date of the development agreement with the city. The city’s developmental agreement with the applicant calls for the applicant to provide $7.5 million toward traffic improvements and other amenities, with the previous deadline execution required by Sept. 30. A development agreement describes terms and conditions the developer is responsible for implementing, like roads, utilities and parks. Myers said the first building phase calls for 458 units to be built, and the project size necessities large capital outlays. Myers said construction on non-parking lot buildings could be as soon as the second quarter of 2026, although he did not commit to it.

The Planning Commission approved the delay at its June 27 meeting by a unanimous vote.

“I understand the problems that are out there with interest rates and inflation,” Commissioner Margaret Williams said. “It seems like a reasonable request at this time.”

When asked why the project development did not start earlier, Myers said the lease with Ross, which expires in August, made it impossible to start construction in the past year. Commissioner Martin Wiggins acknowledged that it was disappointing to see the project timeline extended but felt it was necessary in the circumstances.

“It sounds to me like this is a project they still believe in, and their actions are bearing that out,” Wiggins said. “While delays are unfortunate, it feels to me the shortest path to the project we all want to see is to give it a little more time and hope that we can find a way through pretty challenging times.”

Shane Co. is moving from its Concar Drive location at the site to 2003 Chess Drive. Shane Co. has been in San Mateo since 1976.