Plans are under review for a potential 12-story residential complex at 1230 5th Avenue in San Rafael, Marin County. The project is looking to add nearly two hundred units to the city’s urban core, replacing a single-story commercial structure and surface parking. Monahan Pacific is the project developer and property owner, operating through 1230 Fifth Avenue Investors LLC.
1230 5th Avenue, rendering by SDT Architects
1230 5th Avenue street activity, rendering by SDT Architects
The 139-tall complex will yield around 247,800 square feet, including 198,900 square feet for housing and 48,900 square feet for the garage. Of the 187 apartments, there will be 128 one-bedrooms and 59 two-bedrooms. There will be 19 affordable apartments deed-restricted for very low-income households. Parking will be included for 157 cars and 48 bicycles. Residential amenities will include a ground-level lounge, a third-floor fitness center, a study room, and a rooftop lounge.
Stackhouse De la Peña Trachtenberg Architects is responsible for the design. Illustrations showcase a familiar style from the Berkeley-based firm, featuring earthtone colors, stucco, and Parklex wood siding for a natural accent. The podium-style complex will add housing above the three-story garage.
1230 5th Avenue view along 5th Avenue looking east, rendering by SDT Architects
1230 5th Avenue floor plans for level 3 and 4, illustration by SDT Architects
Yamasaki Landscape Architecture is overseeing the open space design. The ground-level plans include a mix of new sidewalk trees and planters. The fourth floor will include a podium-top courtyard with minimal landscaping around the communal seating and private patios. Additional open space will be included, featuring a rooftop deck crowned by an elevated pool.
The 0.65-acre property is located along C Street between Fifth Avenue and Mission Avenue. Future residents will be positioned between San Rafael’s urban core and the hilltop Boyd Memorial Park.
1230 5th Avenue, image via Google Satellite
The estimated construction cost has yet to be shared. The developer’s website states that construction could start as early as next year, although a detailed timeline has not been established.
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Just moved to San Rafael… BUILD IT!!!
Pretty project. Nice to see something of this density in San Rafael.
Look how good housing can be without 5 different facades and the geometry of a preschooler’s block tower.
A repeating pattern keeps the costs down and wins over the more skeptical. I wish simplicity were more common.
I completely agree with you on this one.
These units are still going to be for-profit. Ya know?
And? 95% of Americans live in housing built and managed for profit.
This dude has an animosity toward anything profit-driven. Countless posts on this website prove this. Within the past week alone, the tinfoil hat was a craze.
Housing should absolutely not be an investment opportunity, but those who take the risk of developing and delivering still need to be paid at the end of the day.
This was more of a shock if anything. At least not hearing a flawed rant anyways.
I don’t have a problem with for-profit housing per se. My point is that the for-profit housing industry is not going to resolve the “housing crisis” that you guys bang on about all the time because the private housing industry simpley will not build affordable housing because it is not profitable enough for their investors.
What I am saying, and the facts back me up, is that if you want affordable housing in the Bay, you need to stop tearing down older, “naturally afforable” housing stock – especially in cities with rent control – and get the government back into the business of building social housing or heavily subsidize non-profit housing developers.
To believe otherwise is to embrace discredited trickle-down voodoo economics.
Austin says otherwise.
“Austin rents have tumbled for 19 straight months, data from Zillow show. The typical asking rent in the capital city sat at $1,645 as of December, according to Zillow — above where rents stood prior to the pandemic but below where they peaked amid the region’s red-hot growth.”
“The chief reason behind Austin’s falling rents, real estate experts and housing advocates said, is a massive apartment building boom unmatched by any other major city in Texas or in the rest of the country. Apartment builders in the Austin area kicked into overdrive during the pandemic, resulting in tens of thousands of new apartments hitting the market.”
– Joshua Fechter (Texas Tribune)
Downtown San Rafael has a lot going for it: good climate, beautiful scenery (hills, bay, trees), good transit connections (SMART, GGT, etc.), and a really vibrant restaurant/arts scene. There is a lot to like there. However, the amount of foot traffic could be higher to support and sustain what is arguably the most urban place in Marin County. Projects like this, if done thoughtfully and with good design, seem like a good fit.
San Rafael is about to have a better skyline than San Jose!
Glad to see these proposals popping up for downtown San Rafael. It’s a great, walkable downtown with lots of amenities, but everything shuts down super early and the streets are empty by 9:00pm. Need 10-20 more projects like this and DTSR will start to feel like the North Bay urban hub that it is.