New 24-story San Rafael apartment plan proposed
A Berkeley-based developer has submitted a preliminary application to build a 24-story apartment building in downtown San Rafael.
The plan calls for the tallest building to date in the city's rapidly ascending skyline. In November, the Planning Commission approved an eight-story apartment building at 900 A St. and a 13-story apartment building at 1230 Fifth Ave. In January, the commission gave the green light to a 17-story, 200-apartment building at 700 Irwin St.
The latest preliminary application is for an L-shaped building that would combine six parcels at 1099, 1017, 1009 and 1001 Fourth St. and a parcel on Third Street. The existing structures would be demolished. The project would wrap around the recently approved eight-story building at 900 A St. on three sides.
The planning division has titled the project, "4th Street Market Hall and Residences." The project developer, Paul Goldstone, floated the idea of a similar, smaller project in 2017. Neither Goldstone nor Joshua Townsend, a spokesman for Goldstone Management Inc., responded to requests for comment.
At that time, Goldstone said he had purchased three properties totaling 41,000 square feet at 1001 Fourth St. and wanted to build a European-style market hall similar to the Ferry Building in San Francisco, Oxbow Market in Napa or Rockridge Market Hall in the East Bay. He planned to build housing above the market, but he envisioned the project being just six stories high.
Goldstone's preliminary application calls for a building with 533,310 gross square feet of floor space with 24,955 gross square feet dedicated to commercial use. It is not clear from the application whether that nonresidential use would be a market hall.
The application states that the proposed development will utilize state density bonus law to secure approvals for a total of 345 apartments. Goldstone intends to seek a 100% bonus, 172 apartments, over what would be allowed under the city's zoning.
To qualify for the density bonus, developers must price a requisite number of their projects' apartments below market rates. Goldstone is proposing to make 26 of his apartments affordable for households with very low incomes and another 26 apartments for households with moderate incomes.
Density bonus law also grants developers waivers and concessions from building code requirements. Goldstone states in his application that he would be seeking waivers from San Rafael's height limit, a parking area requirement and civic open space mandate.
While the city's height limit is 60 feet, the apartment tower would be 260 feet tall. City regulations call for 3,089 square feet of civic open space, but the project would provide none.
The developer also states in his application that the project is entitled to a statutory exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act because it is eligible for protections provided by Assembly Bill 130.
The approval of the 17-story building at 700 Irwin St. was unsuccessfully appealed, and the city council has discussed the possibility of revising its form-based code and other provisions designed to influence development proposals.
Goldstone's preliminary application was filed under Senate Bill 330, however, which ensures that any formal application he submits within the next 180 days will be subject only to regulations in place at the time he filed the preliminary application.
When Goldstone debuted his idea of building a market hall, he proposed purchasing a 171-space parking garage near Third Street and Lootens Place from the city.
Goldstone said at the time that he intended to demolish the garage, one of the city's busiest parking facilities, and construct a new parking structure that stacked cars using a mechanical lift system.
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"The negotiations concluded without the property being sold," wrote San Rafael planner Kristina Estudillo in an email. Estudillo declined to comment further.
Goldstone's new preliminary application calls for 350 parking spaces.
In 2015, Oakland-based Lennar Multifamily Communities' Bay Area tried to buy the parking garage from the city for a plan that called for construction of a 162-unit apartment building, but those plans never materialized.
Amy Likover, president of the Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods, noted that Goldstone's proposed apartment tower would have three times as many stories as San Rafael's current tallest building at 1000 Fourth St., which is eight stories tall.
"I consider that a rather bold proposal," Likover said. "I think developers have become emboldened."
She said that some members of the community felt they should have expressed their concerns about the 17-story project at 700 Irwin St. earlier.
"They scrambled. They wanted to make a difference, but it was too late," Likover said. "There has been a learning curve for residents about when they can weigh in. I do predict that this particular proposal will get a lot of public input because we better understand the process."
Regarding the number of large apartment buildings being proposed, Paul Navazio, interim city manager said, "We're a little bit behind the eight ball in terms of being in a position to mitigate the impacts of all of this development."
"How do we do fire prevention on a 17-story building and maintain response times across the city for police and fire with increased population and increased call volumes?" he said.
Navazio said the city is in the process of revising its development impact fees. Local governments can require developers to pay a proportionate share of the impacts their projects have on infrastructure and services.
Navazio said the City Council will soon consider changes to the city's park impact fee. The city also has initiated a nexus study required to revise its traffic mitigation/roadway impact fee and create a public safety impact fee, but that process may take a couple of months to complete.
He noted, however, that Goldstone's project won't be subject to any fee increases that the city adopts as long as he submits his formal applications within 180 days. Other developers who file preliminary applications under SB 330 before the new fees are adopted also will be exempt, he said.
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