14.5-Acre San Mateo Development Goes To City Council: Report

SAN MATEO, CA — A proposed 14.5-acre San Mateo development will move to the City Council later this month for final approval, The San Mateo Daily Journal reports.

The 961-unit Concar Passage mixed-use project sailed through the Planning Commission in a unanimous July 28 vote and goes to the City Council for a vote Aug. 17 according to the report.

The Planning Commission sent the proposal to City Hall with reservations about the council’s consideration of lowering the amount of below-market rate units required of the developer in exchange for traffic-easing adjustments, the report said.

The project would transform a 14.5-parcel on the site of the Concar Shopping Center into a multi-purpose development that would include 961 housing units, 40,000 square feet of commercial space and a 4.67-acre parcel reserved for publicly accessible open space, the report said.

The housing component would include 880 market-rate units, 73 slated for very-low income earners, and 38 moderate-income units.

The council signaled willingness to abandon the 38 moderate-income units in exchange for traffic improvements, the report said.

Ramiro Maldonado, the Planning Commission’s Vice Chair, strongly discouraged the idea of giving up 38 affordable units amid a housing crisis.

“Our housing market needs more inventory,” Maldonado said, according to the report,
Maldonado believes the City Council should “rethink what that would look like to add more moderate-income housing.”


Read more in The San Mateo Daily Journal