SAN MATEO, CA—The Bay Meadows transit-oriented development hit a pivotal point in the project with the groundbreaking on the new village's town square and dedication of the final park. The groundbreaking for Bay Meadows' town square signifies a shift in focus from townhome and park construction to the new community's commercial, retail and mixed-use elements.

The town square is a public plaza that will connect Station 4, a 210,000-square-foot office building, and The Russell and Rendezvous, two mixed-use apartment buildings, providing 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, all of which are located within a block of the Hillsdale Caltrain Station. Earlier in the year, Bay Meadows began construction on Station 4, the first of its five office buildings, which is available for lease and will be completed in June 2016.

“It's rewarding to see how quickly Bay Meadows has become a vibrant neighborhood,” noted Chris Meany, partner, Wilson Meany. “With the addition of state-of-the-art offices, cafes, shops and outdoor social spaces, we're bringing the vision for a walkable, transit-rich urban village to full fruition.”

The 83-acre project will ultimately contain approximately 1,066 units of housing; 780,000 square feet of LEED-certified office space and 41,000 square feet of retail along with 18 acres of open space. The community's four parks comprise nearly 20% of the development.

Housing at Bay Meadows includes townhomes, condominiums, apartment buildings and a small number of single-family homes. Three townhome communities by Tri Pointe and Shea Homes have sold out already and a fourth is anticipated to be sold out by mid-summer. Field House started leasing in January and is now more than 90% leased. The housing neighborhoods currently under construction include Brightside and Meadow Walk by Shea Homes, The Russell and Rendezvous, and collectively contain 154 townhomes and 228 apartments.

The development currently has 600 residents in townhomes and apartments, the Nueva School serving high school students, increased ridership at the adjacent Caltrain station and visitors regularly utilizing Bay Meadows' variety of parks.

Perhaps the bigger part of the picture is that the Wilson Meany project team is made up of women driving the progress of the overall project. Janice Thacher, partner, Wilson Meany, tells GlobeSt.com:

“At Bay Meadows, one of our company's primary developments, the team we've put together happens to be comprised largely of women. We hire talented, skilled women and men who get the job done.”

Elizabeth Billante, vice president, agrees, telling GlobeSt.com:

“From the top down at Wilson Meany, there is simply a tone of respect and mentorship is a priority. We are surrounded by so many smart, strong women here that it can be easy to forget that women leaders in commercial real estate are not the norm.”

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Lisa Brown

Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.