The Registry

May 20, 2022

Jon Peterson

Downtown San Mateo has emerged as a prominent location for housing over the last decade even as corporate offices on the Peninsula have not grown as quickly. But the city’s central location and proximity to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and the East Bay give it a natural advantage over some other parts of the region. Developers have taken note, and they have been looking for opportunities to grow their footprint in the Peninsula’s largest city.

One of these developers, Oakland-based The Martin Group, is working on a future mixed-use development in San Mateo located at 477 9th Avenue. The developer is looking to convert a 1.6-acre lot into a project with 120 units and some ground-floor commercial space, according to information that has appeared on the City of San Mateo’s website. There is no indication at this time when the project might be started, but the developers did hold a neighborhood meeting on April 14th and plan to present to the Planning Commission on May 24th.

The Martin Group did not respond to a phone call seeking comment for this story.

The site is bounded by 9th Avenue on the south and South Claremont Street on the East, and it sits directly next to the Caltrain line, which passes through the city. The asset now has an existing office space that would be torn down to make room for the new project.

The new development would cover five stories and have a total of 209,204 square feet, according to the project plans filed with the city. The first and second floors would consist of a mixture of office space and parking facilities. The upper three floors are devoted to the residential for-rent units. One part of this would be 12 below-market-rate units that are affordable at the very low-income category.

There will be three types of residential units in the planned development. The design of the project calls for 24 studios, 64 one-bedroom and 32 two-bedroom units. All of the residents in the complex will have access to the shared amenities, which include a fitness center, a central courtyard, a roof deck, a lounge and a dog run. The project will also offer two types of parking on-site for 168 vehicles. This includes a two-level above-grade operation and a surface lot. This part of the project also has room for 132 bicycles.

These are several firms that will be part of the project going forward. The developers are working with BDE Architecture based in San Francisco, while the landscape architect is San Francisco-based Guzzardo Partnership. Another firm participating will be Alta Planning + Design of Oakland.