South B Street in San Mateo tabbed for mixed use

“It really upgrades B Street and gives it a style,” Dinar said.

The proposal at the .64-acre site is from Nazareth Enterprises, an investment firm with real estate throughout Northern California. It has previously developed Nazareth Plaza in San Mateo between Ninth and Eighth avenues and Nazareth Terrace between Eighth and Seventh avenues along South B Street. Dinar and Associates from Oakland is the architecture and interior design group leading designing and planning. The group has completed multi-unit residential projects in San Bruno, San Carlos and San Mateo.

The development proposes eight units with three bedrooms, 20 with two bedrooms and 20 with one bedroom. There would be 13 units on the second floor, 14 on the third and fourth floor, and seven on the fifth floor. Design plans for the residential floors show a gym and common open space and a proposed residential bike storage racks. Outdoor planters and landscape and seating are proposed.

The proposed parking will consist of an on-site parking garage with customer parking on the ground floor and parking for residents on the lower underground level. There are 107 parking spaces, with 68 for residents and 39 for ground floor commercial.

The site is bounded by South B Street to the east, Sixth Avenue to the north, and Seventh Avenue to the south. The proposal would demolish all existing structures at 616 S. B St., which includes a Kelly-Moore Paints store. The total floor area will be 85,055 square feet.

Dinar said the proposal would be a positive for the neighborhood. The commercial floor would likely have restaurants, cafes or commercial business offices that do not disturb the residents upstairs.

“We try to get architecture that benefits the city and does not experience damage due to weather. So far, we have had very good responses,” Dinar said.

Dinar is still waiting for corrections and comments from the city on the development. It is still too early to tell how many affordable housing units would be available due to the early stages of the planning review. A decision on affordable housing unit numbers would be made further along in the planning development stage. Dinar said the plan always called for a mixed-use development instead of just housing due to its proximity to downtown. He envisions the building as offering more than studio options for young tech people and including family options.

“It was always to be mixed use. “The city wants it that way, and the developer wants it that way,” Dinar said.

The proposal was submitted May 25 and is under review with the city. Associate Planner Somer Smith said the project does not have a date for an appearance before the Planning Commission for a study session, and the pre-application is undergoing its first round of review. Once the city finishes the review, a public meeting will take place.

Leora Tanjuatco Ross, associate director of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, a nonprofit housing development advocacy group that pushes for new housing and policies, said San Mateo needed all kinds of housing. She noted the three-bedroom units were great options that added a different flavor compared to one-bedroom options more commonly seen. She noted it was typical for downtown to have mix-used developments that included commercial and housing in the same development.

“The need for housing is so immense that we are supportive of housing in general,” Tanjuatco Ross said.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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