Converting a Historic Racetrack into a Transit-Oriented Community

Located between the Bayshore Freeway and CalTrain Commuter rail in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bay Meadows Racetrack has been the site of entertainment and sports racing for many years. With ever-increasing development demand on the San Francisco Peninsula, the practice track portion of the site was harnessed as a redevelopment opportunity to elevate the site to its full potential. The plan includes a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented district while providing a quality site for the expansion of San Mateo’s largest private employer, Franklin Resources.

Central to the Bay Meadows Specific Plan is a mix of uses within the framework of pedestrian-scaled blocks that knit the fabric of San Mateo together and link to the regional CalTrain transit system. Safe, comfortable streets, pedestrian ways, plazas, and parks are settings for rich social and community activity. Retail and incubator live/work uses combine with employment hubs to complement the community and residential uses throughout the area.

Around-the-Clock Mixed-Use District

The mixed-use district offers daycare, commercial, office and live/work uses to provide services to both employees and residents, adding diversity of services and activity at different times of the day. A neighborhood grocery store is accessible from an arcade connecting it to the site’s linear park. Lining the linear park are two-story buildings which house retail on the ground floor and upper-story residences and offices above. A daycare is located at the head of the park and near residences making care accessible for families in the area. A multiplex cinema, major hotel, and restaurants bring nightlife and entertainment to the district.

The residential district fronts the linear park and two neighborhood parks provide a sense of place and identity to residents while also offering lush green space. A variety of housing types were envisioned in the plan blend with the existing residential character nearby and support income, age, and household diversity. Housing types found in the project include:

• Podium apartments and condominiums that line the linear park and provide an urban edge to complement the mixed-use district
• Single family homes deliberately designed to blend with the character of the existing residential neighborhoods
• Carriage homes
• Town houses

Implementation of the specific plan was communicated by an urban design framework which identified key site planning and design controls — build-to lines, setbacks and building entry criteria work with defined pedestrian easements, streets, open spaces and vistas ensured that urban design goals were met.