Tourbineau Downsizes Conversion Proposal in San Mateo

A Peninsula office building is the latest candidate for conversion into housing as adaptive reuse continues to gain traction in Silicon Valley’s softer office markets.

Tourbineau Real Estate Partners filed formal permits to turn a 12-story office tower at 2121 South El Camino Real in San Mateo into a 144-unit apartment building, San Francisco YIMBY reported. The move comes a few months after Tourbineau submitted preliminary plans to lock in development rights.

The proposal leans on California’s Senate Bill 330 and Assembly Bill 2011 to streamline approvals, taking advantage of a popular option for converting aging commercial properties along transit-friendly corridors into housing.

The 169-foot tower spans roughly 109,500 square feet, with about 83,500 square feet slated for residential use. Plans call for 144 one-bedroom units, including 22 set aside as affordable housing. Exact income thresholds for the affordable units are not yet public. Amenities are poised to include a new lobby, fitness center and landscaped courtyards. A timeline and construction budget haven’t been disclosed.

The building is part of a six-structure campus that will remain partially intact during construction, including adjacent office buildings and a parking garage. Tourbineau acquired the 3.4-acre property last June from TPG Real Estate Trust for $22 million, with Chief Investment Officer Ben Wong framing the deal as an “inflection point” investment with multiple potential paths, telling the Business Times that it viewed the property as “an empty slate.”

“This was the one [property] we were most excited about,” Wong said. At the time of the sale, the building was nearly 80 percent vacant. Tourbineau previously filed an application in November to convert the El Camino Real building into 156 residential units; its latest plans cut down both the total number of units and the portion to be designated for low-income households.

Under its state-mandating housing goals, the City of San Mateo must plan for at least 7,015 new residential units by 2031. Tourbineau’s latest play seeks to target a larger need for housing rather than a diminished demand for offices in the Bay Area.

— Chris Malone Méndez