The Burlingame Voice

Downtown: Swing a cat, hit a salon

Just the other day I was thinking what downtown needs is more salons.  Right on schedule, Sola appears to be ready for business on Primrose.  The new Dr. Treats veterinarian next door is still papered over but I have seen work taking place there--and there is certainly demand for more vets in town.  As far as salons go, I do like the name of the one across the street from Sola.  I had not noticed it before, but it's called Skin Laundry.

220 Park rises above downtown

We last documented the construction of the 220 Park Rd. (i.e. the old Post Office) building last August.  Even with a brutal rainy season, progress continued, and we now have an outline of what the final envelop will be.  As one of my buddies who followed the planning said before the ground-breaking, "people are going to be surprised at how big this will be."  He's right.  Here's the view of the backside--looking down Lorton Ave.  What was once open space with views of the mountains to the west from the restaurant row will now be glass and steel.  The third-floor terrace has taken shape as well, but will be in shadows most of the day.

  

My, what a big crane you have

We last checked in on the Old Post Office project downtown (aka the Sares-Regis project) here.  We are about eleven months after the groundbreaking ceremony and the Big Dig phase is over.  This week an enormous construction crane was put in place.  I was struck, metaphorically speaking, with how it towers over downtown.  One of my regular downtown contacts told me that I missed the wild scene as the workers walked along the "arms" out to the end to put the counterweights in place on the short side (the left side in the photo).  Unfortunately, I took the photo before I heard about the daring feat and the counterweights are perfectly hidden by the traffic light below.  Does anyone think this will be the last big crane we see downtown?

Steelhead goes vegan with a new patio

Some developments in Buildingame are better than others.  I'm not a big vegan - not opposed to it, I just like a little meat or fish with my greens - but I like the looks of the new back patio that is being added to the new vegan restaurant going into the old Steelhead brewery space.  You can just see the steel framing for the covered patio going in against the wall on the right.  That is a nice location looking at the sunset on an active block with several restaurants and an excellent wine bar.  Dine B'game.

Checking in on the Old Post Office

It's been about six weeks since we checked in on the Old Post Office project here.  As expected, the digging is going full bore.  I was reminded of how we followed the Safeway progress-- remember that here?  I don't recall if Safeway ever did install a web cam to watch the progress, but I like the idea for the Sares Regis project.  In the meantime, here's the dig.  Note the old building is wrapped in green and moved to the left with the Garden City Construction signage.

Tracking progress as the dig gets bigger

Our newest downtown parking structure

We have a new 368-space parking structure just south of Howard Ave that recently opened.  That's a lot of parking, but some people may think it's too far away from the Avenue especially if they just want to stop into Peet's and grab a cup of coffee and a newspaper.  Voila, we now have a new one-space parking structure right outside of Peet's.  It is not quite as secure as the big one, so be prepared with a chain and lock to hook up to the parking structure (second photo, lower left).  This spot has no time limit as it was in use most of the day--and the price is right, too!

Park Rd. Progress

We have always tracked major developments in town here at the Voice.  The Safeway project even has its own category on the right frame.  So the two huge projects in "Buildingame" on Park Rd. -  the old Post Office Sares Regis project and the subsidized housing project merit some recorded history.  The former is well into the dirt and digging for the underground parking should start soon.  The latter is rising like a behemoth behind the single story spaces on Howard.  Who knew those three blocks between Howard and Bayswater would epitomize Buildingame with the new parking structure and the subsidized housing project.  Three years from now we will look back at what once was.

Urban Archeology: The Piccadilly cocktail lounge

As concrete, steel and rebar take over the downtown B'game skyline, we need to take a moment to enjoy little indications of our small town past when they reappear.  On the back side of 1461 Burlingame Ave that is undergoing remodeling, next to the piano shop, work has revealed The Piccadilly cocktail lounge's rear entrance signage:  "Lunches, Dinner and Cocktails".

The 1952 City Directory reveals it was owned and/or operated by one R. H. Willoughby.  It is not listed in the wartime 1941 directory, but perhaps some Old Timer can chime in with a memory or two of the establishment and its libations.

Park it, Mack

The first phase of the new downtown parking structure is open for biz about 11 months after we discussed it here.  The ground floor has been offering free, try-before-you-buy parking for a couple of weeks, but that is now over.  It should relieve a little of the pressure from parklets and construction, especially at the old post office where today is groundbreaking day.  Here's the view of the ground floor--full-- except for the EV spots which were......empty.  I think they will be more successful than the spots near Broadway which shouldn't be hard to accomplish.

An eagle-eyed reader forwarded this photo of the rooftop parking and noted the absence of the concrete "wheel blocks" in front of the cable railing that appears a bit flimsy.  We've seen a few instances of drivers thinking they were in reverse when they weren't or hitting the gas instead of the brake, so the wheel blocks seem like a good idea here.

Saving History One Building at a Time

The city is slowly working its way towards more protections and incentives for preserving local buildings and homes that add to the amazing character of our neighborhoods.  Recently I was talking to a PG&E guy from Menlo Park who came to fix the outage on our street.  He looked up and down the street and was amazed that it was so nice since "they're tearing everything down in Menlo Park".  I said "Yep" and left it at that while feeling sorry for him.  The Draft "Chapter 25.35 - Historic Resources" is winding its way through the process and would represent an upgrade to the existing, limited code just for the central downtown Ave area found on the City website here.

We definitely need this--now more than ever as various local and state-wide forces seek to shred local character with the mistaken idea that it would help "affordability" and would come with no unintended consequences.  Wrong.

The Historic Register has eleven criteria for inclusion and "shall only occur upon request of the property owner" and if officially designated "are eligible for incentives detailed in Section 25.35.080 Preservation Incentives."  Those are the "carrots".  The Planning Commission study session last week focused on the "sticks" as described by the Daily Journal

The Burlingame Planning Commission weighed Monday, June 14, proposals which would punish any homeowner who destroyed a structure identified on the city’s historic registry.  Forcing a property owner to rebuild a replica of the destroyed historic structure or feature then ban any further construction at the site for 20 years was among the repercussions considered. No decision was made at the meeting and the issue will return for more deliberation later.

While the Planning Commission and ultimately the City Council will weigh the sticks, I like to focus on the carrots; like more flexible parking requirements when adding floor space and an extra 25% lot coverage allowance.  In addition, the 1972 Mills Act, named for former state senator James Mills of San Diego who passed away in March, offers the real carrot for regular homeowners looking to save a bit of property tax.  Realty Times notes that it "provides a way whereby owners of designated historic properties may receive significant property tax relief in return for restoring and maintaining their property."  You can click through for some of the details, but the bottom line is it is an incentive that the draft B'game code says "is often a benefit to the community as a whole and the owners of surrounding properties".  We've been in short supply of that kind of thinking lately with the onslaught of ADUs, SB 9, short-term rentals, etc.