Frequently Asked Questions about Hillsdale Reimagined

Hillsdale Reimagined is an exciting vision for the Hillsdale Shopping Center’s future that ensures Hillsdale’s relevance and vitality continues while also using the opportunity to address several of San Mateo’s needs. Over time, Hillsdale Reimagined will replace the existing shopping center with a walkable neighborhood of unparalleled quality that will be an extraordinary place to shop, live, and work. 

The Hillsdale Shopping Center has continually transformed throughout its history to stay relevant to the San Mateo community – from the original Sears store to an outdoor, single-level shopping center to an enclosed, multi-level indoor mall to the newest “North Block” district. This ongoing change has allowed Hillsdale to remain the heart of the neighborhood and to serve as a valued gathering place for many generations.

Retail is in a critical moment of change, and Hillsdale is not immune to these trends. The prevalence of online retailing, the decline of department stores, and a greater value placed on entertainment and dining-based retail options have dramatically transformed the retail ecosystem. Hillsdale Reimagined is an opportunity to proactively address these changes by evolving into a place that anticipates the retail needs of tomorrow while introducing needed housing and office to ensure Hillsdale remains vibrant.

The Hillsdale Reimagined project includes the mall between 31^st Avenue and Hillsdale Boulevard, the large retailers just south of Hillsdale Boulevard, and the vacant parking lot between 36^th Avenue and PetSmart. 

The new “North Block” with the Apple Store, Pinstripes, Cinepolis, and West Elm among others will remain, along with the Dining Terrace over 31^st Avenue.  In fact, the North Block’s popularity and positive reception from the community serves as inspiration for Hillsdale Reimagined. 

Hillsdale Reimagined began its community engagement in 2021 (then called “Reimagine Hillsdale”) and engaged with over 8,000 participants who shaped the proposed project that became the SB330 Preliminary Application submitted to the City of San Mateo in February 2025. Community engagement will continue over the next several years as the proposal advances and recently included two project Open Houses in March 2025 with over 250 combined attendees. 

The team anticipates submitting a formal application to the City this spring. Once the formal Planned Development application is submitted, a series of technical studies (transportation/traffic, noise, utilities, etc.), as well as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) work, will commence on the project.   

While we are still in the process of coordinating with the City, we anticipate the CEQA study for the Planned Development application to be completed in mid-2026, with Planning Commission and City Council hearings anticipated in late-2026. 

After the Planned Development master plan is approved, supplemental entitlement applications for each individual building or parcel within the Planned Development will be submitted to the City for process and approvals. Each building or phase will also require building permit applications and approvals before construction can commence. 

Under these assumptions, the first phase of construction is anticipated to begin in about five years. The project is designed to advance in phases so that components of Hillsdale Reimagined occur independently of one another. It is not anticipated that the entire Hillsdale Reimagined will be built at one time. The complete redevelopment will likely occur in phases over the next 20 years. 

Yes, the Hillsdale Shopping Center will remain open and operational while approvals are sought. Because the proposed project is phased, much of the existing Hillsdale Shopping Center will remain open even while the first components of the new project are constructed. 

We recently shared the entire Hillsdale Reimagined plan after years of community engagement and input led to the preferred plan alternative. Our next tasks include determining the phasing plan and undertaking a variety of technical studies in conjunction with the City. 

We do not yet know which phases will go first, and we do not yet have details around construction activities or sequences. We absolutely understand how important it is to address these concerns appropriately. 

Hillsdale Reimagined does benefit from being a large site with several areas that could be used for staging on the site itself rather than relying on off-site construction staging. The property also benefits from its frontage along El Camino Real, which could allow for access points along this thoroughfare. 

Throughout the listening process, several key themes emerged for the future of Hillsdale: the need for housing, the importance of economic vitality, the desire for places where the community can gather, and the recognition that taller buildings in specific locations would be preferred if this allowed for lower buildings and more open space elsewhere on site. These principles were all embedded in the concept alternatives previously shared with the public. 

Further feedback revealed a desire for strong retail presence to remain. As a result, the submitted plan for Hillsdale Reimagined includes a retail plaza (Hillsdale Center) that organizes the whole neighborhood (replacing taller office and residential buildings that had previously been shown in this location).  Retail extends beyond this area to the first floors of several of the surrounding residential and office buildings. 

Additionally, the community expressed a preference for highly active, programmed open space. As a result, the design team rethought what had been an attractive but isolated open space at the plan’s southern edge and relocated it to the middle of the plan to be surrounded with active dining and retail pavilions. This space will be highly programmed and could hold events like summer concert series or regular outdoor movie events. 

Finally, the proposed for-sale townhomes with individual front doors facing Edison Street and the accompanying greenway at the Edison Street edge were very well received by nearby neighbors. In the updated plan, the number of townhomes has been doubled, and the area they occupy has been increased. A second greenway was added on the inbound side of the townhomes. 

A retail space sized to accommodate a grocer will be part of the Hillsdale Reimagined plan. Because Trader Joe’s is a private company, we cannot guarantee they will want to remain. However, we believe the new space will be very attractive for Trader Joe’s and that they will want to remain. We believe a grocer is important at this site and will work with Trader Joe’s or an alternative grocer to locate at Hillsdale Reimagined.  

It is important to remember that the Hillsdale Shopping Center will continue to operate normally while approvals for Hillsdale Reimagined are sought, and this includes Trader Joe’s. Furthermore, the redevelopment is anticipated to be phased over several years, allowing many retailers like Trader Joe’s to remain open well after the first construction commences.

The iconic Bufano sculptures are staying and will be relocated to various locations within Hillsdale. They’re important and loved pieces of Hillsdale’s history and culture and valued by many. 

They are particularly special to the Bohannon family. Did you know that the Bohannon family actually provided living and studio space to Beniamino Bufano in the shopping center’s basement for him to make his art while the shopping center was first being constructed? 

If you look closely, you can also find some of the sculptures located in the drawings that accompany Hillsdale Reimagined’s SB 330 preliminary application package.

The entire design for Hillsdale Reimagined is premised on creating open spaces and complete streets that are comfortable for pedestrians. Several greenways bisect the plan, such as the Neighborhood Passage, the Townhome Passage, and the Edison Greenway that are for the exclusive use of pedestrians and/or cyclists. But even the remaining multimodal streets proposed for Hillsdale include wide sidewalks, street furniture, and other streetscape elements designed to keep vehicles from speeding and designed to make the area comfortable for pedestrians. Hillsdale Reimagined aims to be a place where young kids can comfortably and safely wander. 

Because the Hillsdale Reimagined ownership group does not own the parcels east of El Camino Real or control either the Caltrain station or El Camino Real itself, there is little that Hillsdale Reimagined can implement outside its property boundaries; however, Hillsdale Reimagined’s bike infrastructure has been designed to tie into the City’s own bike master plan for future routes. A completely off-street bikeway is proposed on the property along Edison Street. Providing good architecture and streetscape design at the corner of El Camino Real and 31^st Avenue will provide a more attractive gateway from this intersection and from Caltrain, replacing what is currently a vehicle-oriented concrete parking structure. 

While Hillsdale Reimagined is designed to foster walking and cycling, we recognize that many travel throughout San Mateo and the Peninsula by car.  The project’s urban design encourages people to leave their car once on site and is oriented toward the Hillsdale Caltrain Station, but we have ensured that there is also significant parking for those shopping, living, and working at Hillsdale. 

Using industry best practices, Hillsdale Reimagined proposes an additional two thousand on-site parking spaces, most of which will be met through a combination of underground and above-grade parking garages. The retail spaces, homes, and offices proposed at Hillsdale will be of the highest quality and, thus, must provide the appropriate amount of parking to support the rents and home sale prices sought. In this way, Hillsdale Reimagined and the surrounding neighborhood are aligned in having an interest in ensuring that future shoppers, residents, and workers have a place to park on site. 

Hillsdale Reimagined will also adopt a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan in conjunction with the City, the purpose of which is to reduce single-occupancy auto trips and to promote other forms of transportation instead. 

Hillsdale Reimagined does not rely on any parking outside the site itself, such as on-street parking in surrounding neighborhoods. 

The tallest buildings along El Camino Real and closest to the Caltrain station will be 8-10 stories tall. The buildings step down as one moves west, dropping all the way to townhouse-height where the site approaches the existing Beresford residential neighborhood. 

In conjunction with the State Density Bonus Law, the plan’s density and heights comply with the City’s recently adopted General Plan 2040 and with voters’ approval of Measure T. 

The proposed project also includes approximately 1,350 new homes, meeting and exceeding the City’s housing allocation for the site of 1,200 homes. 

The approximately 1,350 new homes are a combination of for-sale townhomes and for-rent apartments ranging from studios to 4-bedrooms, accommodating a range of users, family configurations, and price points. Across the site, approximately 200 homes will be assigned as affordable and, as currently proposed, will be randomly distributed among all of the residential buildings. 

Unfortunately, the building architecture has not yet been designed, so we cannot begin maintaining an interest list for future residents. But if you are interested in living at Hillsdale, we hope you’ll share your feelings about how important it is to build new housing in San Mateo.

We are believers in the long-term strength and vibrancy of the Bay Area and its innovative companies. Hillsdale Reimagined is a vision for the coming decades, and we believe that both employers and employees will recognize the value and benefits of locating in places like San Mateo.  There is no better place for new offices than near transit and in a mixed-use, walkable, and vibrant neighborhood. In fact, amid the current post-COVID office environment, the types of offices that companies are gravitating towards most are those that are newly constructed and in amenity-rich, walkable locations. 

Additionally, the inclusion of offices helps financially support the desired retail and residential components of the Hillsdale plan. 

Developing the right mix of retail options for Hillsdale is paramount to making Hillsdale Reimagined a successful destination. At this time, the project is several years away from leasing retail spaces to individual tenants, but we are committed to ensuring that Hillsdale Reimagined includes an active, vibrant, and appealing retail environment. 

Clustering among retailers; providing built-in customer bases through the provision of residential and office populations; and appropriate vehicle, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian access all help ensure retail will succeed. These characteristics will make the Hillsdale Center retail village, as well as the ground-level storefronts in bases of many of the proposed residential and office buildings surrounding Hillsdale Center, succeed.  The recently renovated “North Block” and Dining Terrace serve as a good model for the type and diversity of uses that Hillsdale Reimagined aims to accommodate.  

The impact of Hillsdale Reimagined on utility services will be studied as part of the project’s CEQA study during the next phase of the entitlement process. However, the parameters of the proposed redevelopment fit well within the City’s overall future projected growth as studied and assessed within the General Plan 2040’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR).  The City’s water supply and wastewater facilities, for example, have already been studied and shown to be adequate through the General Plan 2040’s EIR to accommodate this amount of development.  Any project-specific improvements required by the project’s CEQA study will likely be for very local infrastructure that serves the site and its immediate surroundings. 

Additionally, fees known as “development impact fees” are paid to the City by the property owner using a prescribed formula set by the City to account for increased impact on any of these services based on the specific mix of uses and intensities of the proposed development.