An ambitious plan to turn a downtown parking structure into commercial space and apartments was given an extended lifeline as San Rafael city council voted to give Goldstone Management Group more time.
The Berkley-based developer wants to buy a city-owned parking structure near Third Street and Lootens Plaza as part of a mixed-use project of 240 apartments and a ground floor food hall. The plans call for the 171-space municipal parking garage to be torn down and replaced with a new partially underground parking facility that would use mechanical lifts to store the cars. At least 171 parking spots would remain available for public use. On top of the parking, Goldstone would build apartments.
Goldstone hedged its bets on the project and sale of the structure, buying property adjacent to the city parking lot at 924 Third Street, the current home to San Rafael Laundry and Cleaners as well as 1001 Fourth Street, which formerly housed Body Kinetics.
The plan for those properties is to build a complex to include 150 apartments on top of ground floor space that would become a food hall with as many as 20 vendors and perhaps one or two restaurants. The complex would be 75 feet tall and six stories.
The city and Goldstone originally signed an agreement to explore the project in November 2019, but the project bogged down due to COVID-19.
Throughout the years, San Rafael remained vigilant in keeping downtown viable and willing to make changes to keep it on track. When Macy’s moved out of its Fourth Street location in 1996, the area was a ghost town. The city met with residents and stakeholders in a full-blown community outreach, and the old store was torn down to make way for a mixed-use complex that includes retail, offices, apartments and a street level plaza.
Northgate turns to apartments, Costco hits the road
The Northgate Mall, which has searched for years for an identity, has moved on from its plan of adding Costco and a gas station in the old Sears space to a mixed-use complex that could include more than 1,300 apartments.
The shopping center, owned by Merlone Geir Partners, has been trying to figure out what to do with Northgate since the San Francisco real estate investor purchased the mall in 2017, attempting to recast it as a community gathering spot—but that spin was no sale. The center was remodeled under previous owner Macerich, turning it into the only enclosed shopping center in Marin. Sears shut its doors in 2018, leaving Macy’s and Kohl’s as the anchor stores. The mall includes a movie complex, 90 stores and multiple eateries.
When neighbors noisily opposed Merlone Geir’s plans to bring Costco in, the shopping center owner displayed rare listening ability and changed lanes. The new plan calls for a two phase build out with the initial stage beginning in 2025, constructing four buildings containing 896 units. A trio of the buildings would be five stories with the remaining structure reaching four stories. To make room the Sears building would be torn down along with a section of the existing mall and the Home Goods store. Some of the apartment buildings would have first floor retail and the theater complex would be expanded.
The second phase, which wouldn’t break ground until 2040, includes demoing almost 650,000 square feet of space including the spaces for Macy’s and Kohl’s. Two five-story buildings would be added with 460 units.
Street oriented retail and restaurants would be added. Neighbors have said they like this plan better than Costco, but there may be too many apartments. Translation, hire a lawyer and buckle up, it could get loud and expensive.
Your Marin moment
Given the uncertainty that has besieged us during the pandemic, all of us strain to find little things that can anchor us and lend reassurance that around the corner, life will reveal a piece of normal. For me, the reopening and continued operation of the Depot Café and Bookstore in Mill Valley fits the bill. The coronavirus delayed the remodel and kept the doors closed until late January.
As a reporter at the long-defunct Mill Valley Record, I took shelter at the Depot on evenings when I had to cover the planning commission or city council. As those meetings could run long and were filled with details that could put an insomniac into full snore, I relied on a strong jolt of Depot java to get me through.
It remains a gathering place on Lytton Square for those seeking literary sustenance and a nosh, as well as the remarkable number of folks congregating with free time in the middle of the day.
Bill Meagher is a contributing editor with this publication. He is also a senior editor with The Deal, a Manhattan-based digital financial news outlet. He covers alternative investment, smallcap equity, SPACs, cannabis and does investigative stories.
