By J.K Dineen, San Francisco Chronicle, July 7, 2022
“[On July 5th], the Daly City Planning Commission unanimously approved a plan to build 214 apartments on a piece of land previously occupied by the Burlington Coat Factory at the Westlake Shopping Center — home to [several large anchor stores and] dozens of smaller businesses. The project will be before the City Council later this summer for final approval.
“If [approved], the project would be the second housing development in the pipeline at the Westlake Shopping Center.
“The latest proposal comes as Bay Area cities are increasingly targeting sprawling shopping centers to help meet ambitious state-mandated housing goals. In San Rafael, a builder is planning to redevelop the Northgate mall with 1,356 units. In San Bruno, the Tanforan shopping center could be redeveloped with more than 1,000 units, as well as a biotech campus. Other retail-to-housing projects are in the works at the Bayfair Center in San Leandro, Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, and Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco.
“Daly City has been doing better than most San Mateo County cities in meeting its goals of the current cycle, which goes from 2015 to 2023… .The next cycle, however, will be … more challenging.
“[Daly City Planning Manager Michael Van Lonkhuysen] said the current pipeline, in addition to nearly 400 units at the Westlake, includes 1,150 units at the former Serramonte Del Rey High School campus.
“Even with about 3,736 units at some point in the planning process, ‘We are still looking at a pretty decent shortfall,’ Van Lonkhuysen said.”
Read the full article here. (~4 min.)