“This week, the Daly City Planning Commission unanimously approved a plan to build 214 apartments on land previously occupied by the Burlington Coat Factory at the Westlake Shopping Center – home to a Target, Home Depot and DSW shoe store, in addition to dozens of small businesses. The project would bring much needed housing to the San Francisco Bay Area, reports JK Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle.
“If given the go-ahead, the project would be the second ongoing development at Westlake Mall. Landlord Kimco Realty has already received approvals to build 179 apartments to replace a 55,630-square-foot retail and office complex. at 10 Park Plaza Drive.
According to the article, “The latest proposal comes as Bay Area cities increasingly target sprawling malls to help meet ambitious state-mandated housing targets,” with similar projects in classes in other towns in the region. “Like all municipalities in California, Daly City is in the process of updating its housing component, a once-every-eight-year exercise required by the state,” Dineen explains. Redevelopment of former commercial sites such as former malls is a way for California cities to meet their housing goals and spur housing construction with less resistance from naysayers who frequently fight the increased density in residential neighborhoods.
