Planners OK new heights for Marriott in San Mateo

Pending council approval, some office buildings on Bovet Road will be rezoned to allow between five to eight stories — up from the current two- to four-story designation — and 1495 El Camino Real, the former site of the San Francisco Credit Union, will allow four- to six-story buildings. All will be mixed use. 

The site of the former Marriott Hotel was included after its closure last spring, as the owner, software giant Oracle, decided to scale back on its real estate investments. The Austin, Texas-based firm, previously headquartered in Redwood City, purchased the property in 2016 for roughly $130 million, using the hotel not just as an investment asset but leveraging its approximately 32,000 square feet of meeting space to conduct corporate events and employee trainings. The hotel — located along the intersection of South Amphlett Boulevard and Concar Drive — also boasted more than 400 hotel rooms and the Craft/Code Kitchen and bar.

The city adopted General Plan 2040 last year, which is a long-term blueprint that outlines the city’s key initiatives such as housing, infrastructure and public services. The sites were not included in the original Land Use section of the plan but were recommended for inclusion during the meeting Jan. 28.

According to a staff report, the City Council, staff and individual landowners “identified 13 sites across the city where land use designations were either inconsistent with the existing and/or surrounding land uses, or required revisions to align with City Council direction on General Plan 2040.”

The updated designations will result in an estimated 1,674 additional units.

“The no net loss requirements … prohibits a city from changing the land use designation of a property to one that allows lower density unless the city concurrently increases density on other parcels in the jurisdiction. This is to ensure there is no net loss in residential capacity,” Senior Planner Somer Smith said.

Other sites include the Arbor Rose Condominiums and 831 Monte Diablo Ave., which one public commenter said will likely include five studio units for youth transitioning out of the foster care system.

The changes are in large part possible due to Measure T, which voters passed in November. The ballot measure repealed certain parts of Measure Y, which capped building heights to five stories in most parts of the city. As part of its state-mandated housing goals, or Regional Housing Needs Allocation, the city needs to plan for about 7,000 more housing units between the 2023-31 housing cycle. If the measure hadn’t passed, the city would have had to redo significant parts of its housing element.

A public hearing on the final land use designation changes is tentatively scheduled for March 17.