Carmel Partners reaches higher at 520 Mateo project in Arts District

The mixed-use development will now be 35 stories with 125K sf of retail and office space

A rendering of the latest version of 520 Mateo (Credit: Department of City Planning)
A rendering of the latest version of 520 Mateo (Credit: Department of City Planning)

Six months after releasing details for its large mixed-use project at 520 S. Mateo Street, Carmel Partners is thinking bigger.

The New York firm has nearly tripled the floor count on its 520 Mateo construction, to 25 from 13, according to Curbed.

Carmel has also reconfigured the square footage inside from its original proposal. There will be 475 live/work units instead of 600, and 125,000 square feet for retail, restaurant and office space. That’s 90,000 square feet more than originally planned. 

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A separate six-story building on Mateo Street will house 105,000 square feet of office space. Carmel will still set aside 11 percent of the live/work units for “very low income” renters, allowing for a 35 percent density bonus.

The city Planning Commission unanimously approved the changes. Carmel purchased the two-acre site in late 2015 for $24 million. The development will replace an industrial building and parking lot.

A disused railway and path that runs between Mateo Street and Santa Fe Avenue will be turned in a walkway that Carmel partner Neils Cotter said will “hopefully become the heartbeat of the project.” [Curbed] — Dennis Lynch