Millbrae council hears progress report on major downtown and Millbrae Station developments

City planning staff on July 8 gave the Millbrae City Council an information-only update on the status of major entitlement and construction projects concentrated around Millbrae Station and downtown.

The presentation described active construction at the Meadow Glen site (the former Office Depot property), progress at 1301 Broadway and other projects across the station area, and recent tenant activity at new office and retail buildings. Director Andy Mogensen told the council the Meadow Glen development “will be ultimately a 6 story mixed use building” on a 1.8-acre site bounded by Broadway, El Camino Real and Meadow Glen and said construction is expected to continue through spring 2027. He said the project was entitled under SB 330 in July 2022 and “consists of 278 residential units,” 26 of which the presentation identified as affordable, with about 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and two levels of interior parking.

Mogensen also reported that 1301 Broadway has begun grading and permits are complete; he described that project as a 97-unit fully affordable housing development with two levels of parking and 63 spaces. The city noted receipt of $21,300 from the California Municipal Finance Authority tied to TEFRA bond issuance earlier this year.

At the Millbrae Station campus, Mogensen said the ACLS/ICON Therapeutics building is operational and ICON moved in April; the Longfellow/Avia Labs project (described in the presentation as a 315,000-square-foot laboratory and office building at 210 Harriet Tubman) received a final certificate of occupancy for the core and shell in early June. Mogensen said move-in-ready lab suites remain under construction and tenant improvements are pending leases.

The presentation listed a growing retail mix at Gateway at Millbrae Station: Panda Express, Liberty Bank, Chick-fil-A and Basecamp Fitness are open; Crumbl Cookies, Sourdough and Company and Starbucks were under construction; Zeroand (a tea shop), I Code (a learning academy) and Tandoori Pizza were in plan check or awaiting permits. Mogensen said SamTrans is building roughly 150,000 square feet of tenant improvements at 166 Rollins Road and expects those improvements to be completed by January 2026.

Mogensen noted the Millbrae Station BART fare gates are installed and credited 100% grant funding for that work from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. He also described the Sarah Station entitlement at 150 Sara Avenue as an approved project that could include up to 488 housing units, roughly 290,000 square feet of office and about 30,000 square feet of retail; the city extended that project’s development agreement to Nov. 16, 2033 and reported no firm construction start date.

Council members asked follow-up questions about a possible ICON/Avia Labs ribbon-cutting and whether conference or meeting rooms in new office amenity buildings could be made available for public use. Mogensen said the amenity building at Alexandria/ICON’s campus includes a roughly 120-seat theater and that the city will coordinate with the building’s primary tenant if the space is requested. Vice Mayor Holiver and other council members expressed interest in scheduling ribbon-cutting or grand-opening events once tenants are ready.

No council action was required; the item was presented as an annual informational update and the council did not take a vote.