Formal permits have been filed for a 14-story mixed-use tower at 1 East 4th Avenue in Downtown San Mateo, San Mateo County. The filing is a crucial step towards adding over two hundred rental units, offices, and retail space into the heart of the city. Mike Field of Mecah Ventures is responsible for the application as the project developer.
The proposal for 1 East 4th Street would become the tallest building in town. The current tallest building in the City of San Mateo is located just across the street, the 14-story office complex at 400 South El Camino Real, with a rooftop height of 165 feet. Still, the proposal for East 4th Avenue would not become the tallest building in San Mateo County, a title currently held by the 317-foot-tall Genesis North Tower, with a potential to be usurped by the 458-foot tall Willow Park proposal by N17 in Menlo Park.
Map of tall existing buildings in San Mateo around 1 East 4th Avenue, illustration by Arc Tec
1 East 4th Avenue establishing view, rendering by Arc Tec
The 202-foot-tall structure is expected to yield approximately 379,200 square feet above ground, including 174,700 square feet of housing and 119,760 square feet of commercial space. There will be two basement levels with parking capacity for 171 cars and 283 bicycles. The site programming includes ground-floor retail, housing occupying the lower ten floors, and offices on the top four floors, including access to a rooftop balcony.
The current plan calls for the addition of 236 rental units, of which 36 would be deed-restricted as affordable housing. This includes 18 units for very low-income households and 18 units for moderate-income households. On-site amenities for residents will include a private lounge, spa, fitness center, and even a golf simulator.
1 East 4th Avenue pedestrian view from along 4th Avenue, rendering by Arc Tec
1 East 4th Avenue corner sidewalk improvements, rendering by Arc Tec
Arc Tec is responsible for the design. Renderings show a visually chaotic podium complex, with stucco-clad residential vernacular on the lower ten floors lifting up a four-story glass-wrapped office. The structure appears especially odd from El Camino and 3rd Avenue, where bare walls abutting adjacent parcels will be prominent. Sidewalk improvements are proposed to create a public courtyard at the corner of El Camino and 4th Avenue, with street-parking for bicycles and planters around the retail space.
The formal application follows pre-applications submitted in late March. Mecah Ventures invokes Senate Bill 330 and the State Density Bonus law to achieve the maximum allowable density from the site and streamline the approval process.
1 East 4th Avenue street activity, rendering by Arc Tec
1 East 4th Avenue, image via Google Street View
The 0.91-acre property is located at the corner of East 4th Avenue and El Camino Real, close to the city’s retail core and just one block from Central Park. Caltrain is just over ten minutes away on foot, or four minutes by bicycle.
The estimated cost and timeline for construction have yet to be shared.
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Visually chaotic is one way to describe it!
A mess.
a total, unmitigated mess!
Agreed, that existing mess will look so much better with this new building in its place! Those one story commercial buildings are overdue to be replaced!
Amazing! Can’t wait!
Why ugly? A 1970s mess that already needs to be demolished.
Such a prominent structure in downtown SM should set a standard for quality design.
Dreaming on,
Since all the tall comparison structures were built, San Mateo has has a height restriction. Voters have rejected changes to it many times. This large of a building won’t happen.
What am amazing location that was severely underutilized! Close to library, train station, park and a major road. Hope it gets built!
That boring 60s glass box catty corner from the site looks a lot better than this hot mess. I won’t miss the one-story ticky tack commercial storefronts, but this is downtown San Mateo, so please try harder!
No
I agree 100%
I like the idea of high-rise in DT San Mateo. However, I agree with the other comments. The design leaves much to be desired. I hope the developer allows Arc Tec to reimagine the bottom 2/3 of the building.
I agree the design leaves much to be desired. If in fact downtown San Mateo wants to be filled with high rise buildings then there should be a specific plan with specific guidelines that the good people of San Mateo can review and vote yes or no.
And if people are in favor of high rise buildings, why stop at Downtown. Why not creep into Baywood and Aragon and put infill high-rise apartments and condos there? Why stop there? why not encroach into San Mateo Park and build high rise buildings there? Where does it end San Mateo? to what end do we chase housing and low – income housing?
This comment has got to be one of the most prime examples of selfish NIMBYism. Because of “concerned neighbors” needing to be over-involved is why San Francisco has basically zero new development compared to other peer cities. It’s why downtown San Jose sucks. It’s why a home in Palo Alto last sold for $300k is worth over $3 million today.
20 years from now, when all the old folks are retiring and have no support services because the staff have to live hours away, then you’ll have yourself to thank for killing off your local economy.
The restaurants you find dear? No one left to run. The parks you like to stroll? No staff left to maintain. The streets you enjoy walking? No one left to repair.
Continue your NIMBY brigade, the Bay Area economy will collapse soon enough.
DT SM could be a proper urban environment with some careful planning and robust infill.
If SM can simply replace its existing downtown stock with 100 of these projects, it would be a wonderful improvement.
Coupled with investment in transit, SM could become a destination instead of another mediocre car dependent experiment in chimpanzee urban planning
Well, maybe not 100. But half a dozen maybe. Most of 4th street is lined by one-story junk buildings. Third Street has some better buildings worth keeping, including the old Art Deo hotel, the Tudor business block, and a few others. Best to keep the tall buildings closer to ECR and the train tracks because one of the best things about the mid-Peninsula is all of the sun and the wonderful climate. Don’t want to shade it all out with a bunch of towers. Plus, this being ‘Merka, virtually every occupant of said towers will drive.
Agree with your points but the old Judd Green building on south side of 4th avenue is worth keeping as are most of the downtown buildings. And I agree that there are many historically significant buildings on 3rd avenue.
Excellent. The area is so low-density that even one such building changes the dynamic of the community over a full 2-mile radius.
If you had ever been to downtown San Mateo you would know that there are a surprising number of mid-rise and high-rise buildings. Nothing compared with San Francisco, but pretty dense for a California suburb.
Just adding more cars to El Camino Real… these new residents have to place to shop for groceries downtown and they will have to drive to Safeway down El Camino or go to Burlingame to do their shopping. They certainly aren’t going to walk and carry groceries all the way back to 4th Avenue.
fortunately the internet exists and many people shop online these days. Plus, if there are more people living on this block then it may attract new shops and grocery stores to cater to their needs?
On the road to ruin, San Mateo…. pretty soon San Mateo is going to look like Toronto, no architectural charm, just jamming high rises in every spot available. those of us who have lived here for decades are not happy. Good luck with parking…. all the streets in baywood and Aragon are gonna be full.
Good, take the train.
Toronto… have you even seen a high rise? My gosh some folks would benefit from living life outside their own bubble. This tower wouldn’t even make the top 60 tallest on the Peninsula. Dare I say top 80?
Fear monger a little more when a studio apartment for 400 sqft isn’t $2500+ a month.
Not a fear monger my good fellow…. just a long-term San Mateo resident who is appalled by the changes being wrought on this great city by people with no taste and no sense of history….First downtown is going to be ruined by this monstrosity (btw, it will do nothing to lower rents) and then Hillsdale Mall will destroy life as we know it at one of the great malls in the country. And no, I don’t want to take the train.
Without the new residences, San Mateo will continue to decline. Downtown has the empty department store, they’ve lost their big grocer (even if it was over-priced luxuries) and there’s a good handful of other vacancies. The mall? A good chunk of it sits vacant.
Other than some few newer developments and most being office, the traffic today is solely the product of existing residents. I survived months without a car in San Mateo taking the train and riding a bike. Only had to get a car because my job forced me to.
Worried about a changing city? Don’t live in a city.
Drew, I thought this forum was for a civil discussion of the topic at hand. I don’t appreciate your tone towards Hank and I hope you can welcome all viewpoints on this forum without making it personal.
I respectfully disagree with you that San Mateo is in decline. Perhaps a stroll down 3rd avenue on weekends or try to get a parking spot in the evenings will change your mind. There are many, many thriving businesses operating in downtown San Mateo. Allowing huge developments will not do anything to improve the situation. As far as the mall is concerned, it has been a fixture for over 65 years. The conversion to housing is a money grab for the Bohannon company and its new corporate partner. The net effect will be significantly more traffic on El Camino, Hillsdale Blvd and the surrounding residential neighborhoods of the mall. In my humble option, San Mateo needs to have a better plan to better incorporate housing into its General Plan.
James, Hank actively wants to hold the yes vs no stamp on a development they will never live in and be the all mighty god of San Mateo.
Not sure about you, I couldn’t care less about what my neighbors do, as long as they are respectful of the laws and are killing anyone.
This tower is forced to take advantage of limited height allowances of a downtown space. San Mateo has forced this arbitrary zoning map of the basic needs of “feels”. I couldn’t care less about a long-term resident’s needs if they pull the ladder after them. I paid taxes into San Mateo. Why can their say have stronger standings than mine?
Life will carry on beyond Hank’s last 20 years.
Somewhat concerned about the proposed public courtyard at the corner of 4th & El Camino. A few planter boxes aren’t going to do much to stop a speeding car. Posted speed limit is 35mph; many cars zip along doing 50mph.
Where is the plan for downtown San Mateo? Sure, we all want more affordable housing in San Mateo. But where is the plan? Shouldn’t be hold our elected officials to a higher standard? I, for one, love downtown San Mateo the way it is now. I love playing pickleball at Central Park, I love the character of the buildings on 3rd Avenue…. the diversity of the restaurants, I love B street for dining…. What I don’t like is all these high-rises that are being proposed and popping up downtown. We need to keep San Mateo like it is.