Preliminary permits have been filed for an eight-story apartment complex at 2820 South El Camino Real in San Mateo, San Mateo County. The proposal looks to build an office-looking apartment complex on a vacant property across from the Hillsdale Caltrain Station and near the Hillsdale Mall. Millbrae-based LF George Properties Corp. is responsible for the application as the property owner.
2820 South El Camino Real view of the retail parking spaces, rendering by Costa Brown Architecture
2820 South El Camino Real lobby, rendering by Costa Brown Architecture
The roughly 100-foot-tall structure is expected to yield around 176,800 square feet, including 75 apartments and a 75-car garage. Unit sizes will vary with 20 one-bedrooms, 48 two-bedrooms, and seven three-bedrooms. Ten units will be deed-restricted as affordable to low-income households. The ground floor will include two retail spots and an entrance along 28th Avenue to the two-story residential basement garage. The second floor will include residential amenities, including a business center, social lounge, and fitness center.
Costa Brown Architecture is responsible for the design. The L-shaped apartment complex will rise around an existing gas station at the corner of El Camino Real and 28th Avenue. The facade does appear more like an office building, wrapped with curtain-wall glass and balcony carve-outs. Plans include a small open-air court at the center of the structure, carving a hole from the roof down to a small gathering space by the lobby and shops.
2820 South El Camino Real corner view overlooking the ECR, rendering by Costa Brown Architecture
2820 South El Camino Real, image via Google Satellite
The roughly half-acre property is just half a block from the Hillsdale Caltrain Station, and a few blocks north of the Hillsdale Mall. Future residents will be a 15-minute walk or five minute bicycle ride from the nearest grocery store.
The application invokes Senate Bill 330 to streamline the approval process. The cost and timeline for construction have not yet been shared.
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A project a day being proposed in San Mateo
no rhyme or reason, no design standards, no cohesion, no nothing. Building on steroids, gonna be traffic and congestion on steroids.
Should see the area as it is in the current state…
5 decades of no rhyme or reason, no design standards, no cohesion, no nothing.
A train station is a block away, and a car dealership occupies several acres. This stretch you will see post-modernism, faux Tudor, Spanish style, faux-oriental, soulless corporate contemporary on every fast-food chain, mid-century modern, Car-Town USA and its addiction to parking infrastructure, Late 90’s/early 2000’s big-box store strip-mall conformity, attempted elegance, and severely hostile pedestrian curb appeal.
El Camino has no business trying to be defined and holistic, especially in San Mateo. Burlinging game is the only city that manages to tame it somewhat… Everywhere else, it’s a hodgepodge car sewer. Lotta great restaurants and wonderful small businesses, but far from a crowning feature of Pennisual supremacy.
I don’t think you really know the Peninsula, do you? There are several good downtowns in San Mateo County, including Menlo Park Redwood City, Burlingame, and South San Francisco. Downtown San Carlos isn’t too bad either. Also, a little correction for auslanders: although El Camino Real passes through downtown San Mateo, it is NOT the main street in downtown San Mateo. That would be B Street, as well as the intersecting numbered streets: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Downtown San Mateo is pretty decent. But you just want to hate everything here I guess….
I have ridden my bike countless times upon this stretch. It’s dangerous AF if not aware. Getting to any business is best served on side streets. Before electrification, Caltrain was less reliable because the schedules didn’t stop at every stop, as you would know if you’re a seasoned traveler. Today, vast stretches are far better off, but there’s still getting from A→B.
Inform me how great it is getting around without a car on 3rd Ave’s highway crossing, or the spectacle of confusing junctions in which is Foster City.
Have you spent any time on El Camino near the Hillsdale Mall? It’s a walking nightmare. And don’t even get me started on the ADA accessibility. Multiple sections are not wide enough for a wheelchair. The underpass of 92 is the worst chunk. Crossings are too wide, and cars are severely too impatient to run you over. Best to stick to Palm Ave if you enjoy breathing.
The comment, if you read correctly, was discussing El Camino. Almost every stop along the Caltrain’s ROW is paired with a charming town. State Route 82? Wider sidewalks, more trees, and dedicated bus lanes would do the region wonders. So much potential if this stretch wasn’t stuck in a 50’s style of planning.
Ditch the gas station and make the project bigger rather than irregularly shaped. Sheesh.
EVs and telework are spreading so fast that a gas station like this should be removed without hesitation.
Do you not think that the developer approached the gas station owner? I am sure that they did, but the gas station owner didn’t want to sell.
For my taste the building has a really weird design. But the density is good for the area, it’s like 200 feet from a train station.