Resi redevelopment eyed in place of last Bay Area Fish Markets

The Los Angeles owner of the half-century-old The Fish Market restaurants in Palo Alto and San Mateo plans to trade a couple of busy kitchens for hundreds of closets, kitchen sinks and multifamily carports.

Duckett-Wilson Development, owner of the restaurants, has teamed up with Palo Alto-based Windy Hill Property Ventures to propose a combined 701 apartments in both cities, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Both restaurants would be torn down.

In a letter to guests, Fish Market Restaurants President Dwight Colton said the company would close the restaurants this fall at 3150 El Camino Real in Palo Alto and 1855 South Norfolk Street in San Mateo. 

Duckett-Wilson will also shut down its Farallon Fishery, a seafood processing and distribution facility at 207 South Maple Avenue in South San Francisco.

Plans call for replacing the 47-year-old Palo Alto restaurant with a seven-story, 380-unit apartment complex on 2.55 acres at 3150, 3160, and 3128 El Camino Real. The restaurant building and parking lot are owned by Acclaim Companies, based in Menlo Park, which bought the property in 2021 for $16 million.

Plans also call for replacing the 41-year-old Menlo Park restaurant with a five-story apartment complex with 321 units, 15 percent of which would be set aside as affordable for very low-income residents. 

The Palo Alto restaurant will close on September 13 and the San Mateo eatery on September 20, impacting 150 workers. Pending approvals, Colton expects to break ground this year.

“It makes us all very sad,” Colton said of the decision to leave the Bay Area. “Here in San Mateo today, some of our team members have been with us for 40 years. These are family members, and we feel for the guests who are losing this really unique dining experience.”

As part of the closures, The Fish Market plans to host an online auction of memorabilia, including kitchen equipment and more.

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Colton said Duckett-Wilson Development will retain its two The Fish Market restaurants in Southern California, including Del Mar/Solana Beach and San Diego. The brand was founded by fishermen Fred Duckett and Robert Wilson, who along with two partners opened in Palo Alto in 1976 and San Mateo in 1982, according to its website.

Pacific Housing and Jemcor Development Partners have filed plans to replace a former The Fish Market in South San Jose with 271 affordable apartments at 1007 Blossom Hill Road.

— Dana Bartholomew