Hillsdale Shopping Center Redevelopment in San Mateo: What Comes Next

Which part of Hillsdale Shopping Center comes down first? The developer's FAQ for the redevelopment, known as Hillsdale Reimagined, says the team does "not yet know which phases will go first" and has no details yet on construction activities or sequencing.

That matters for anyone who parks off 31st Avenue for a Trader Joe's run or a movie at Cinepolis. The proposal is one of the largest projects San Mateo has seen, and it is still waiting on a procedural decision about how much environmental study it needs. The City of San Mateo's estimate for finishing the whole thing is measured in decades. The newest part of the mall is the North Block with Apple, Pinstripes, Cinepolis and West Elm, and the plan keeps it standing. For the next several years, that is where the future Hillsdale shows up.

The city's own math says at least 15 years

The City deemed the application complete on June 1, 2026. On June 30, the Community Development Department sent the City's environmental review determination under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, to David D. Bohannon II. It concluded that the project needs a full, project-level Environmental Impact Report. The developer had asked for a shorter path that leans on the review already done for the City's General Plan 2040.

The City's letter gives its reasons, and several of them are about scale:

1. The office space would generate an estimated 3,500 to 4,500 jobs. The General Plan EIR anticipated 1,707 jobs across the two traffic zones that include the site, so the project would exceed what was studied.
2. State law requires a water supply assessment for a project this size, and the City said the submitted Water Master Plan does not meet that standard.
3. The City's environmental consultant concluded that the site's Phase I hazardous materials report needs updating and that a Phase II report is likely required.
4. The proposed 10-story heights on several buildings go beyond General Plan limits.
5. Once later entitlements, building permits and construction phases are counted, staff estimated the phasing plan would take "at least 15 years to achieve full buildout."

The fifth reason explains how a resident's weekend errands will look for years. The letter says the applicant told the City that future phases would depend on market conditions, and that it was reluctant to make the phasing plan a condition of approval. Staff concluded the ultimate buildout schedule "remains uncertain." The developer's own FAQ puts first construction about five years out and the full redevelopment at roughly 20 years.

The same FAQ projected CEQA work wrapping up in mid-2026, with Planning Commission and City Council hearings in late 2026. That schedule was written before the current dispute over the review process, and the City's letter has since overtaken it.

The decision due in the next few days sets the pace, not the outcome

Bohannon Properties responded in August. The San Mateo Daily Journal reported that the company said it would "respectfully disagree" that a full EIR is necessary. It proposed a tiered study under CEQA Section 15183 instead, which would check whether the project raises impacts the General Plan review didn't already cover. Bohannon described where things stand this way in the same Daily Journal story:

"Nobody knows today whether 15183 is appropriate or whether a project-specific EIR is appropriate."

Andrew Turco of Sares Regis, another developer on the project, told the Daily Journal that technical studies were already underway ahead of the City's reevaluation.

Residents have also weighed in. The Daily Journal reported that nearly 20 members of Checkpoint Hillsdale, a local group that follows the redevelopment, came to the September 22 City Council meeting dressed in blue. Member Lisa Vande Voorde told the council, "A project of this size, complexity and duration deserves the scrutiny that only a project-specific EIR can provide." Mayor Adam Loraine represents District 5, which includes Hillsdale. He told the paper he supports the City's June 30 position that a project-level EIR "would be most appropriate."

The Daily Journal says the City has until Sunday, November 1, to give Bohannon Properties a final answer. The neighborhood guide San Mateo Local lists Monday, November 2. Either way, the decision lands in the next few days. It settles the level of study, and San Mateo Local notes that it is "not a final yes-or-no on the project itself." A full EIR means a longer process with more chances for public comment. A tiered review would move faster. In both cases, the hearings, later building-by-building approvals and permits are still ahead.

What gets rebuilt, and what the plan keeps

The redevelopment covers the main indoor mall between 31st Avenue and Hillsdale Boulevard, the large stores just south of Hillsdale Boulevard, and the vacant parking lot between 36th Avenue and PetSmart. The Daily Journal summarizes the program as more than 4 million square feet of office, retail and multi-unit housing. That includes several 8- to 10-story commercial buildings along El Camino Real, more than 1 million square feet of rentable office space and about 1,000 new parking spaces.

The housing count depends on which document you read. The Daily Journal reports about 1,400 units, the developer's FAQ says approximately 1,350, and the formal plan set lists 1,392. The Daily Journal and the FAQ both put the below-market-rate homes at about 200. According to the Daily Journal, that housing would cover about 20% of the 7,015 units San Mateo has been assigned under the state's regional housing allocation. The goal is to finish around 2040. Heights would step down from 8 to 10 stories near El Camino Real and the Caltrain station to townhouse scale near the Beresford neighborhood.

Here is what the developer says doesn't change:

• The North Block. Apple, Pinstripes, Cinepolis, West Elm and the other North Block tenants stay. So does the Dining Terrace over 31st Avenue.
• The mall, during approvals. The FAQ says Hillsdale Shopping Center will stay "open and operational" while approvals are pending. Much of it would also stay open while the first new pieces go up.
• A grocery slot. The plan includes a space sized for a grocer. The developer says it can't guarantee Trader Joe's will stay, though it expects the store to remain open well after construction starts.

The mall is also still signing new tenants. POP MART held its grand opening on March 14, 2026. Flip Flop Shops had its grand opening April 3 near Macy's and Gap, carrying OluKai, Reef, Rainbow, Birkenstock, Sanuk and Havaianas. Hillsdale's announcement quoted Trish Pruitt of Northwood Retail calling the store a "thoughtful addition" to the retail mix.

The plaza the plan describes already books Friday concerts

The developer's FAQ says community feedback pushed one big design change. Open space that had been planned for the southern edge of the site moved to the middle, where dining and retail pavilions would surround it. The FAQ says that space would be "highly programmed" and "could hold events like summer concert series or regular outdoor movie events." The same FAQ credits the North Block's "popularity and positive reception from the community" as inspiration for the plan.

A concert series like that ran on North Block Plaza this fall. Rock the Block offered free Friday concerts from 6 to 8 p.m. on four dates, September 4 through 25. The lineup was Mike Annuzzi, UFO UFO, Top Secret and a K-Pop DJ. Neighboring Bay Meadows promoted the series, and that neighborhood runs its own events steps from the Hillsdale Caltrain station at 50 E. 28th Avenue. The proposed central plaza is still on paper, years from construction. A smaller version of it is already running on the block the plan keeps.

What's on the calendar while the City decides

The decision on the review process lands in the next few days. Here is what's happening at and around the mall in the meantime:

• Saturday, October 31: Pinstripes Halloween Kids Party. Crafts, candy and face painting at Pinstripes on the North Block. Tickets are $5. Details are on Hillsdale's events page.
• Saturday, October 31, noon to 2 p.m.: Doggoween at Fieldwork Brewing San Mateo. A dog costume parade and contest in the beer garden at Bay Meadows.
• By November 1 or 2: the City's updated CEQA determination. Application materials are on the City's Hillsdale Mall Redevelopment project page.
• December 3–6 and December 10–13, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: community holiday performances. Hillsdale is taking applications from local groups for these slots, and times depend on availability. Details are in the mall's holiday performance announcement.

By the developer's own estimate, the first construction at Hillsdale is about five years out, and the North Block stays open through all of it.

If you own near Hillsdale and want to talk through what a 15-year redevelopment timeline means for your street, Dixit Properties follows these filings closely, and Vik is glad to go through them with you. Request a free consultation and we'll walk you through where things stand once the City issues its decision.