A rendering of the proposed 193-apartment affordable housing complex at 555 Northgate Drive in San Rafael. (Rendering by AO Architects)
By Adrian Rodriguez | arodriguez@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
The Terra Linda neighborhood of San Rafael is getting another apartment complex.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the plans for 555 Northgate Drive on Tuesday. The project involves 191 apartments offered at “affordable” rates, plus two apartments for onsite managers within a seven-story structure. A two-story office building would be demolished to make way for the new complex.
It’s the second major housing development approved in the area this year. A 238-apartment project at 4040 Civic Center Drive on a hill east of Highway 101 was approved in January.
The 2.2-acre site at 555 Northgate Drive is across the street from the Northgate mall, which is undergoing a transition into a 1,422-residence complex with townhomes and apartments surrounded by shops and restaurants.
The office building at 555 Northgate Drive, San Rafael, Calif., on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. A 193-apartment building has been proposed for the property. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
Terra Linda residents complained that their neighborhood is being overburdened with new housing and city planners aren’t doing enough to address the traffic that will come with it.
“How can you do this to lovely Terra Linda?” resident Geraldine Kerby wrote in an email to the city. “We cared enough about our valley when it was being built to go door to door soliciting for open space. Now, you want to turn us into a town of tall buildings and cement from top to bottom.”
The project will include 153 apartments for low-income households and 38 for moderate-income households. The planned amenities include a community room, a gym, a co-working space, a reading room, a dog run and two courtyards, one with a children’s play structure and another with exercise equipment, among other features.
The project was submitted under Senate Bill 330 and the state density bonus law, which affords the developer a number of benefits.
In terms of exemptions, the applicant, AMG Land Development, asked for unlimited density and additional height bonus.
Without the unlimited density, the project would have been restricted to 97 residences based on the lot size and zoning. Per city code, a 60-foot building is the maximum. The height bonus allows for up to 33 feet on top of that. The project is 68 feet.
No parking is required because the site is within a half-mile of transit, but the project does include 150 vehicle parking spaces and 122 bicycle parking spaces.
Because of the level of affordability, the applicant is also entitled to five concessions. Developers asked for relief from requirements for front yard setbacks, maximum lot coverage, useable outdoor space, parking location and objective design standards for facades and massing.
For the past 25 years, AMG Land Development has primarily focused on construction of affordable housing, said Alexis Gevorgian, principal of the firm. He said the company has constructed more than 10,000 residences, and that about 95% of the portfolio is affordable.
“This is basically who we are, what we do,” Gevorgian said. “We take great pride in doing high-quality projects. Generally, if you see one of our projects in a city, you can’t differentiate between a market-rate project and an affordable project.”
Gevorgian said the mall redevelopment is what attracted the developers to the area.
“We think that it’s going to have good synergy with what’s going on across the street in terms of stimulating the retail, any office that’s there and the employees that work at the mall,” he said. “It’s going to be a real interesting urban environment. We think that’s what we’re trying to create here.”
Christina Ratcliffe, the city’s consulting planner, said the project complies with applicable zoning and objective design standards as modified by the density bonus benefits.
Resident Patrick Gannon said factoring in the redevelopment of the mall with this project, he didn’t understand how the traffic study found there would be no impact on the local roads.
“Am I missing something here in terms of what the traffic report is finding? This doesn’t make sense to me because you’re looking at probably close to 1,600 units,” Gannon said.
Justin Tucker, the project traffic consultant, said the volume of trips generated by the Northgate mall redevelopment is up to 20 times greater than what would come from the 555 Northgate Drive complex.
“So really, the growth in traffic in the near term is really associated with the Northgate mall project,” Tucker said.
Because the project is a 100% affordable housing complex, it is exempt from a vehicle miles traveled analysis, Tucker said. Such a study is required for projects where a full California Environmental Quality Act review would apply, he said.
Resident Don Ho wrote to the commission to object to the project height and number or residences.
He said a seven-story structure next to one-story homes is “inappropriate.”
“Our Northgate neighborhood is already facing substantial changes with the large scale mall renovation,” he wrote. “This project puts it over the top.”
Resident David Buccheri wrote to the commission asking for the project to be stopped.
“The city is ruining the Terra Linda area with massive overdevelopment, even without this ill conceived development plan,” he wrote.
The project has supporters, too.
Gina Guillemette, chief strategy officer at the nonprofit Community Action Marin, wrote to the city to say the organization is happy about the project. The nonprofit previously had offices at the site.
“This effort would bring much needed affordable housing to the community,” she wrote. “With our headquarters previously at this site, we are glad to know that there is potential for it to be redeveloped to meet such an urgent community need.”
“The bay in general and San Rafael in particular are in desperate need of new housing,” resident Wil Gilbreath wrote to the city. “This is a well designed and well sited project.”
Planning commissioners agreed, adding that they appreciated that the developer didn’t max out the building height that was allowable under the state density bonus.
“I really appreciate that it’s an affordable housing and moderate-income project. I think that’s what we need in San Rafael,” said Samina Saude, a member of the commission. “We’re seeing a lot more of the senior housing, but this is like the workforce housing that we all want and need to make sure we economically viable.”