McLellan Company Looks to Build 202 Apartments in San Mateo

The McLellan Company is moving forward with multifamily plans in San Mateo.

The Belmont-based developer has filed formal application permits for a six-story residential building at 4095 Pacific Boulevard in San Mateo, close to the city’s border with Belmont, San Francisco YIMBY reported. McLellan is listed as both the project applicant and property owner in legal documents, per S.F. YIMBY.

When complete, the development will deliver 202 units in a 79-foot tall structure at the corner of Pacific Boulevard and Laurie Meadows Drive, across the street from Caltrain tracks roughly halfway between the Belmont and Hillsdale stations. The edifice will span roughly 324,240 square feet in total, with 218,390 square feet designated for housing and 92,140 square feet for a two-story parking garage for 207 vehicles and 234 bicycles.

The 1.6-acre property will comprise 24 studios, 111 one-bedrooms and 67 two-bedrooms. Of the 202 units, 25 will be deed-restricted for below-market-rate housing. The development will benefit from streamlined review through Senate Bill 330 and the state density bonus law, allowing the developer to build larger than typically permitted by zoning laws.

An existing gas station and one-story shopping center will be demolished to make way for the residential building. An estimated cost for the project and a timeline for construction have not yet been disclosed.

The City of San Mateo must plan for 7,015 new housing units by 2031 as part of its state-mandated housing goals. Other multifamily developments have advanced in recent months, bringing the city closer to meeting its target.

In March, the San Mateo City Council unanimously approved Prometheus Real Estate Group’s Gateway project at 668 East Third Avenue, greenlighting plans for an eight-story, 128-unit building to replace a one-story commercial building. That same month, Align Real Estate filed its plans to redevelop a Safeway store at 1655 South El Camino Real with a seven-story building boasting 396 units and a larger replacement Safeway on the ground level; that effort is part of Align’s broader effort in the Bay Area to transform Safeway sites into mixed-use projects.

The following month, Tourbineau Real Estate Partners filed formal permits to turn a 12-story office tower at 2121 South El Camino Real into a 144-unit apartment building, mirroring the office-to-residential conversion trend that has taken hold in major California markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

— Chris Malone Méndez