By Andrew Nelson, SF YIMBY
The City of San Rafael has published the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Northgate Mall redevelopment. This marks a significant step for the Marin County developer to move forward while receiving community feedback. If built, the plan would add over a thousand homes to the underperforming mall, though the document shares that construction could last over a decade.
The Draft EIR states that construction could start as early as this year. However, this should be put in context. Almost every Draft EIR includes an optimistic statement about construction starting dates that are rarely met, in no small part due to how long the environmental review process can take.
Phase one will see the construction of 922 units and 44,380 square feet of retail between 19 and 32 months. At the end of phase one, the project will retail nearly half a million square feet of existing retail space. Work on phase two is anticipated to start four years after the completion of phase one and last around five years.
The full build-out of the Northgate Town Square will yield 1,422 homes across 1.75 million square feet, 217,520 square feet of commercial retail, and 328,000 square feet of landscaped open space. Across the site, 147 units will be designated as affordable.
Apartment types will include 201 studios, 823 one-bedrooms, 324 two-bedrooms, 54 three-bedrooms, and 20 four-bedrooms. Parking will be included for 3,849 cars, of which 2,524 spaces will be for residents and 1,325 spots for retail. Bicycle parking will be included, but the exact amount is not specified.
Studio T Square is the residential architect, and Field Paoli Architects will oversee retail architecture. CSW/Stuber-Stroeh Engineering is the civil engineer. Illustrations show the apartments will be podium-style structures wrapped around multi-story garages
Urban Arena will be the landscape architect. The center of the project will be the landscaped town square, a public park with a platform, dog run, and outdoor seating. The park will be surrounded by a cinema, shops, surface and garage parking. The developer says the project aims to create an “open-air ‘main street experience.’” The rest of the open space across the property will decorated with planters and trees around the surface parking. Residents will benefit from communal courtyards.
Merlone Geier Partners purchased the site in 2017 from Macerich Company. The mall’s biggest tenants include the Century Theater, Kohls, HomeGoods, a Restoration Hardware Outlet store, Rite Aid, and a Macy’s department store. The movie theater and Rite Aid are expected to remain through redevelopment. Current plans show that Macy’s will be demolished during phase two of construction and replaced with housing. However, given recent news that Macy’s will close 150 malls by 2026, the fate of their San Rafael location is uncertain as of the time of reporting.
The Draft EIR was published earlier this year, starting a deadline-driven period of public review that will result in the Final EIR being published in April and potential final approval by the city council as early as this June. For more information about how to view and comment on the Draft EIR, visit the city website here.