The future of the 24 Hour Fitness on 500 El Camino Real in San Mateo is in doubt after the property owners submitted plans to renovate the building and turn it into a commercial office space.
The property owner, real estate company Westlake Realty, has submitted plans to change the use from an existing health studio to a proposed Class A commercial office use. In addition to exterior improvements, it would add a 6,787 square foot third floor to the existing two-story building for office space and landscape changes to the building frontage and a private rooftop deck. According to Westlake’s website, the proposal calls for relocating the main entrance of the building to South El Camino Real, installing large windowpanes for more natural light and a wraparound balcony with greenery and multiple outdoor seating areas. The downtown San Mateo building is near Central Park and West Fifth Avenue. The total building area would be around 27,000 square feet, with construction estimated to start in 2022 if approved and finish in 2023.
Westlake Realty has submitted an application to the city of San Mateo for approval of the site plan and architectural review. The final public comment period ends July 29. The city would make a decision after the comment period.
Westlake Realty, which owns properties throughout the Peninsula, also owns the adjacent property at 520 S. El Camino Real and has made it its headquarters. The nine-story commercial office building went through a $40 million improvement project that finished in 2021. It also owns properties at 2000 Delaware St. and 1707 to 1731 El Camino Real in San Mateo.
Requests for comment from representatives with Westlake Realty to discuss the changes were not returned, as were requests from the 24 Hour Fitness in San Mateo. The building was a department store before it was a fitness center.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.