The Board will identify relevant issues and significant concerns, and provide comments on the appropriateness of the conceptual design and its compliance with design review criteria and guidelines. The draft environmental impact report is expected to be scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing in August. Apparently, this location is now on private property with no public access. At this point, we will not update this site, until we receive a formal application, or indication that one will be filed. Costco and Merlone Geier (owner of Northgate Mall) have applied for a Conceptual Review/Pre Application to solicit preliminary feedback from the City and the public for a Costco at this location. Share your opinion with users and insert mall rating and reviews for Northgate. Privacy Policy. The new submission does not propose more residences than before, so it should not affect the environmental review of the project, she said. Logan said, We can offer a better and more diverse type of affordable housing in there. He said other housing will take 10 or 12 years, and affordable apartments will be built more quickly. Live verbal commenting will be available during the session. We have been looking at ways to get more housing built faster in order to comply with the tall order given to us by the state, Jensen said. . This content is for decoration only skip decoration. The revised plan is a victory for Responsible Growth in Marin, an organization with 900 members that was created to fight the Costco. The current standard used for evaluating significance of traffic impacts is Level of Service (LOS) standards, which is the seconds of delay at signalized intersections. Other highlights of the revision include solar power: all residential buildings would be 100% electric. Posted on September 16, 2019. Merlone Geier announced Thursday that it has submitted to the city a master plan application for the first phase of the transformation of the 710,000-square-foot center, anticipated to get underway in 2025, after 18-24 months of city hearings and community meetings. Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Project Contact Tricia Stevens, Project Planner at (916) 698-4592 or. The mall would be converted to an open-air shopping center, while some of the existing retail space, including the former Sears building, would be knocked down to make way for apartments. The first is scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 30 and the second for 6 p.m. on April 20. Square feet. Whether affected staffers retain their positions at neighboring BJs restaurants is uncertain. The project site is located west of US Highway 101 (US 101), in the City of San Rafael, Marin County. The recent spate of storms lifted the statewide snowpack to 190% of average for the start of the month, and more snow is on the way. over 4 . What is the next step in the process for the project? Were certainly much happier with the larger town square and the a mixture of ownership townhomes in phase one.. This is a carousel. The city staff has 30 days to review the plans to determine whether additional information or revisions are needed, Mendez said. We appreciate the work that theyve done for this new proposal, Smith said. Grace Geraghty, executive director of the nonprofit Responsible Growth Marin, said she participated in a preview of the revision in a session organized by Merlone Geier. I was really heartened to see that Merlone Geier did listen to the community at large, Geraghty said. Tenants. The housing component offers that 24-hour-a-day presence and activity that energizes a place that has lost its mojo, if you will, Geiser said. Geraghty said her group still has concerns about height and density, and whether the green space is large enough for such a big project. his meeting will be held in Spanish with English translation. (Provided by Merlone Geier Partners), Northgate shopping mall in San Rafael on Thursday, March 17, 2022. A developer has revised its proposal to overhaul the Northgate mall property in San Rafael, adding townhomes for sale and other features. He also writes the weekly business column Movers & Shakers, which appears in Friday's paper. Improve the visual connection to the mail by incorporating some of the existing material palette i.e., (more stone, less concrete). 1,033. SFGATE reached out to BJs for comments but did not hear back by publication. A copy of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act document filed by the chain Feb. 10 revealed that BJs will be offering all affected team members transfers to other Company restaurants.. The job cuts occurred on Feb. 17. This is not a city-sponsored project, therefore the City does not decide where to propose new projects. San Rafael, CA 94903. The proposed project would result in the redevelopment of the existing mall through demolition, renovation, and new construction with a mix of commercial and residential land uses. Architectural rendering of some of the 898 apartments and grocery retail that . In addition, technical studies (i.e. There are already multiple gas stations near Northgate, can we stop Costco from opening a gas station at this location? Shops & Services. Nodecisions or official action on the projectwill be madeduring this study sessions. Ninety jobs are affected. Northgate is the only enclosed regional mall and the largest family oriented shopping destination in Marin County. Thursday Farmers' Market. That drove the decision to reconsider its use for housing as well as retail. In North Hollywood, the Noho West center has residential next to office and retail spaces. Northgate Mall. But mixed-use and open-air reworkings of malls have been undertaken elsewhere in the Merlone Geier portfolio, which includes 112 assets on the West Coast, mainly focused on centers anchored by grocery, drug and home-improvement store tenants. The first, which Merlone Geier aims to begin in 2025, involves demolishing portions of the indoor mall, in addition to the former Sears building and the HomeGoods store, which would be relocated. ft. to 225,100 square feet and construct high . It's the largest of three shopping centers in San Rafael called Northgate. The first work would involve demolishing the former Sears store, which has been temporarily used partly as an RH outlet store, and its related spaces to make way for 898 apartments. The closure will also affect 90 employees who work at. California snowpack hits highest level this century for March. The Design Review Board meeting on the Conceptual application is scheduled for October 22, 2019. The appropriateness of a gas station and evaluation of any potential impacts will be considered through the public review process. She's a Bay Area native. The project would also include a 9,000-square-foot bicycle center with a repair shop, bike parking and other features. and our The neighbors would prefer a more open space, a mix of rental housing and condos rather than all rental and probably a bit less density than the developer is proposing, especially close to the single-family homes. Among the announced layoffs was BJs Restaurants, which said it would close the San Rafael location at Northgate mall on April 12. The Commissions focus is on land use matters (ie traffic, noise, parking, land use compatibility). In San Francisco, the owner of the Stonestown Galleria is planning on building several thousand housing units on surface parking lots. Stephen Logan, vice president of development for Merlone Geier Partners, said that the pandemic gave the owner a chance to re-evaluate options for the 43-acre site in North San Rafael. A developer seeks to build 1,345 units of housing at Northgate Mall in San Rafael. Temporary move: 6000 Northgate Dr, San Rafael, CA 94903. Open Menu Close Menu. It looked at the benefits of holding on to Costco versus seeking a more residential-focused project with a gathering place for the neighborhood a specialty grocer or food hall and a new expanded movie theater. What: Costco San Rafael - Community Open Houses When: Open House #1 - Wednesday, Sept. 25; 4:00 to 7:00pm Open House #2 - Thursday, Sept. 26; 5:00 to 8:00pm Where: Northgate Mall - Eastern Common Area (Entrance Next to H&M) 5800. At the end of the day, we wanted to have a true mixed-use project, and we didnt think a Costco would be conducive for that, he said. A new plan to redevelop the Northgate mall in San Rafael calls for building 1,356 apartments, transforming the shopping center into an open-air complex and scrapping a proposal for a Costco. But they'll cost you, Fight at high school basketball game in S.F. Thats if Kohls and Macys go away, Logan said. An additional 42 affordable apartments would be scattered throughout the remaining market-rate apartments in the second phase of the project. He joined The Chronicle in 2014 covering San Francisco land use politics for the City Hall team. In its place, Costco is proposing to build a new 146,958 sq ft Costco Warehouse Center, including a 141,773 sq ft warehouse, 5,185 sq ft attached tire center, along with a detached fueling station. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. If you have questions or comments about this project, please submit them in advanceto Project Planner. The applicant has indicated they are taking a pause to analyze the City, outside agency and public feedback received during the preliminary process and decide whether to proceed with the project, and if so, how to proceed. In an email to submitted to the city, Laura Silverman, a member of Responsible Growth in Marin, wrote, Why should residents in San Rafael have to travel outside of their own community to participate in the benefits of a town center when we have the perfect opportunity to create something in our own backyard?, Design Review Board member Sharon Kovalsky said, The heart of the project is the town center square. A developer has revised its proposal to overhaul the Northgate mall property in San Rafael, adding townhomes for sale and other features. An estimated 333 jobs, including both tech and non-tech industries, are being lost in the Bay Area as a result of the most recent layoff decisions, a review of the WARN letters shows. Photos outside of town are hard to find (at least in digital archives), but pics of a few stagecoaches follow. Phase 2 (also referred to as the 2040 Vision Plan) would generally include the demolition of the Macys and Kohls buildings and the construction of 430 residential units. The plan calls for the mall movie theater to be renovated and expanded to include an Imax theater. But Jenny Silva said, We need to be able to grow higher. San Rafael Join us for the next meeting of the Policing in our Community series: 3/8/2023, 6:00-8:00pm, Albert J. Boro Community Center at Pickleweed Park or Virtually. The current plan calls for San Rafael to produce 3,200 housing units during the next eight-year cycle, more than three times the 1,000 units the city was required to build in the previous cycle.