San Mateo's Japanese center seeks new home

Taoka said the center had not decided where its new headquarters would be.

The organization is currently at 415 S. Claremont St. Taoka said the building sale to Windy Hill Property Ventures represents a good opportunity to find a new location with a more modern facility, something on which it has focused. Its priorities are for a large, versatile space to accommodate its martial arts and Japanese language classes.

“It could be in a larger building, or it could be free-standing,” Taoka said. “We are mainly looking in the San Mateo area.”

Taoka said many members are in San Mateo and Foster City and want something close to its current location. A central site is also more accessible for people in Redwood City and South San Francisco to visit instead of in the far north or south of the county.

Taoka said property developer Windy Hill is helping find a new location by hiring a real estate broker. The developer has a contractual control agreement to buy the property from the community center.

Windy Hill is meeting with the community center every few weeks to identify new sites, with a couple of options emerging. Taoka said the organization is initially looking at renting places.

The San Mateo Japanese American Community Center was formed in 1975, while affiliated with the National Japanese American Citizens League, the oldest Asian civil rights organization, and occupied an office on the corner of Claremont Street and Second Avenue. It became independent of the JACL in 2003 when the Gardener’s Association disbanded and decided to donate its property to the center. The site is an important cultural site for the Japanese-speaking community and other Asians, particularly the senior community. It offers library services for Japanese materials and offers books, translation services, senior assistance and videos for students doing research projects. The center provides cultural classes around arts, activities and education, like Japanese martial arts classes. The organization is volunteer-based and makes do through donations and fundraisers.

The pandemic forced the temporary closure of the building until the summer of 2021, with programs and classes gradually opening back up.

The proposed development would tear down all existing on-site structures on the block of East Fourth Avenue, South Claremont Street, East Fifth Avenue and South Delaware Street. In its place would be a six-story mixed-use building, with 86 residential units and over 143,000 square feet of office. The proposal is next to another Windy Hill mixed-use project called Block 21.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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