Jemcor Development Partners Proposes Housing in San Mateo

Jemcor Development Partners is looking to demolish an office building in San Mateo to make way for hundreds of housing units.

San Mateo-based Jemcor filed an application with the city of San Mateo to replace the Borel Estate Building at 1700 El Camino Real with two eight-story residential buildings, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The plans call for 441 units on the 3-acre property. The first building would consist of 253 apartments, and the second would have 188 affordable units for senior residents. The site is near the Hayward Caltrain station across the street from a Safeway supermarket.

The five-story Borel Estate Building is one of the last properties held by family-owned commercial real estate firm Borel Estate Company, which has developed prominent San Mateo office buildings.

Jemcor’s proposal comes a year after San Mateo voters approved Measure T, which removed height and density restrictions along El Camino Real near transit stations.

The developer filed the application under Senate Bill 330, which helps developers accelerate housing production by streamlining permitting, freezing development fees and restricting local governments from reducing density, enacting housing moratoriums, or downzoning, particularly in urban areas.

As state-mandated housing goals loom over cities across California, San Mateo developers are looking to meet the demand, and knocking down suburban offices is part of the trend.

At least 1.5 million square feet of offices in San Mateo are poised for demolition or conversion.

Last fall, Tourbineau Real Estate Partners filed an application to turn a 121,000-square-foot office building at 2121 El Camino Real into a 156-unit multifamily community.

O’Farrell Development is pursuing an office-to-housing redevelopment involving 87 units at 1919 O’Farrell Street.

Last summer, Harvest Properties and Stockbridge Capital Group acquired the GoPro corporate headquarters campus in San Mateo for $102 million with plans to convert the 22-acre office park into a 225-unit for-sale residential community.

— Chris Malone Méndez