Hillsdale's Makeover Is Stuck on One Question. Your Mall Isn't Going Anywhere Yet
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
On September 22, nearly 20 members of Checkpoint Hillsdale, a local group that tracks the Hillsdale Shopping Center redevelopment, came to the San Mateo City Council meeting dressed in blue. The council was not voting on the project that night. They came to speak about a narrower question that will decide how quickly anything at Hillsdale changes: how much environmental study a project this large has to go through before it can be approved.
That question has been open since the end of June. For anyone who buys groceries at Trader Joe's on West Hillsdale Boulevard or meets friends at Pinstripes, the answer matters more than the renderings. Every way it can go points to the same practical result. The Hillsdale you know will keep operating for years.
Bohannon Properties, which owns and is developing the site, wants to demolish the mall south of 31st Avenue and replace it with more than 4 million square feet of offices, shops and homes, including several eight- to 10-story buildings along El Camino Real. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, a project like this needs environmental review. The disagreement is over which kind.
Bohannon asked the city to use Section 15183 of the CEQA Guidelines. That option leans on the environmental analysis San Mateo already did for its General Plan 2040 and adds technical studies only where the project goes beyond it. In a June 30, 2026 letter to Bohannon, the city's Community Development Department said no. It decided that a full, project-level Environmental Impact Report "appears to be the most appropriate level of environmental review."
The letter's reasons are concrete:
In August, Bohannon wrote back that it "respectfully disagree[s]," according to the San Mateo Daily Journal. It proposed a tiered approach instead: run technical studies first, and do a full EIR only if they turn up problems the General Plan review did not cover. "Nobody knows today whether 15183 is appropriate or whether a project-specific EIR is appropriate," David Bohannon II told the Daily Journal. Checkpoint Hillsdale member Lisa Vande Voorde told the same paper, "A project of this size, complexity and duration deserves the scrutiny that only a project-specific EIR can provide."
Checkpoint Hillsdale's tracker says public comments on the challenge were due October 2, 2026, and that the city will consider them before it makes a final determination. As this post goes up, that decision has not been announced.
The review dispute is the newest delay in a process that has already run past its own forecasts. Here is how the project has moved so far:
Compare that with what the project's own FAQ at Hillsdale Reimagined still says. It expected the CEQA study to be done by mid-2026 and Planning Commission and City Council hearings in late 2026, with the first construction phase starting "in about five years." Technical studies have been submitted, but the project-level EIR the city now requires has not been prepared, and whether one will be required at all is still being disputed.
The city's June letter also gives the longest timeline anyone has put on paper. Bohannon said it would need more than three years just for the follow-up planning approvals each phase requires. Adding building permits and construction, the city wrote that the phasing plan "will take at least 15 years to achieve full buildout." The letter also notes that Bohannon said later phases would depend on market conditions and did not want the phasing plan written into its conditions of approval. That leaves the final schedule uncertain.
Under any of these timelines, the more practical question for a shopper is which part of Hillsdale the plan covers. According to the project FAQ, it covers three areas: the mall between 31st Avenue and Hillsdale Boulevard, the large stores just south of Hillsdale Boulevard, and the empty parking lot between 36th Avenue and PetSmart.
The FAQ says the North Block, home to the Apple Store, Pinstripes, Cinépolis and West Elm, will stay, along with the Dining Terrace over 31st Avenue. The developer calls the North Block's popularity the inspiration for the rest of the plan. That makes the newest part of the center the one piece planned to last.
Trader Joe's is the store people ask about most. Hillsdale's directory lists it on West Hillsdale Boulevard. The FAQ promises retail space sized for a grocer but says Bohannon "cannot guarantee" Trader Joe's will want to stay. The company would work with Trader Joe's "or an alternative grocer." It also says the center will keep operating normally while approvals are sought, Trader Joe's included, and that phasing should let many stores stay open well after the first construction starts.
This was a concern from the start. In the Daily Journal's first report on the application in fall 2025, Mayor Rob Newsom said that under current state housing law the city no longer has the ability to say, "You have to put in a grocery store."
Macy's and Nordstrom, the two big anchors, are still listed in the directory. Macy's is in Zone D on the lower level, and Nordstrom spans Zone G on the lower level and Zone N on the upper level. The restaurant list also still includes The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Flores, Palette Tea Garden, Shake Shack and YAYOI.
The clearest sign the center expects to keep operating is that it is still adding stores. POP MART opened on March 14, 2026, on the lower level near Shoe Palace and Starbucks. Flip Flop Shops followed with a grand opening on April 3, near Macy's and Gap. In Hillsdale's announcement, owners Mike and Margarita Guizar describe wanting a calm, approachable store, and Trish Pruitt, vice president of marketing for Northwood Retail, calls it "a thoughtful addition that broadens our retail mix."
Both opened in the stretch between 31st Avenue and Hillsdale Boulevard, inside the area the redevelopment would someday replace. Retailers do not usually open in a building they expect to lose soon.
So the near-term calendar at Hillsdale looks the same as in other years. Here is what is on it:
The two Halloween events overlap from noon to 1 p.m., so families planning to do both can start with the kids' crafts at Pinstripes and then head over to Fieldwork before the dog parade wraps up at 2. For more around town, our San Mateo neighborhood page and our walk through downtown San Mateo's Thursday loop cover the other end of the city.
If you own a home near Hillsdale or Beresford Park, you may be wondering how a project expected to take at least 15 years figures into your home's value. The Archini & Sebastian Group follows the city's Hillsdale filings closely and can walk you through what recent sales nearby show. Request a home valuation and we will put together a picture that reflects where the project actually stands.
Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact us today.