A 260-unit apartment complex could replace the former Fish Market restaurant on San Mateo's waterfront. The project has sat in city review for more than three years with no public hearing scheduled.

Palo Alto-based Windy Hill Property Ventures wants to build two buildings on the 3.46-acre site at 1855 S. Norfolk St. along Seal Slough: a five-story south building and a four-story north building. The plan includes studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, 26 of which would be reserved for very low-income renters. The north building would also hold 1,200 square feet of commercial space.

The city's project page shows the most recent plans were submitted Jan. 22, 2025. No updates have been posted since.

The Fish Market, a seafood restaurant founded by fishermen Fred Duckett and Robert Wilson, opened at the site around 1982 and operated for more than four decades before closing Sept. 20, 2023. Property owner Duckett-Wilson Development Company partnered with Windy Hill to pursue the redevelopment, The Real Deal reported in July 2023.

Windy Hill originally proposed 321 units when it filed a pre-application in 2022. A neighborhood meeting that June drew 59 attendees on Zoom, according to city meeting notes, with residents raising concerns about traffic, building height, parking and waterfront access. The developer has since cut the unit count to 260 to conform with local density limits and state Density Bonus law.

The current plan calls for 325 above-grade parking spaces, public open space along Seal Slough and rooftop amenity areas.

Windy Hill filed its formal planning application and a preliminary application under the Housing Crisis Act (SB 330) on Jan. 3, 2023. The SB 330 filing was deemed complete Feb. 21, 2023, locking in the development standards and fees that applied at that time. Technical studies on air quality, noise and traffic remain in progress, according to the city.

Once environmental review wraps up, the project will go before the San Mateo Planning Commission for a recommendation and then the City Council for a final decision. The city has not announced a timeline for those hearings. Senior Planner Somer Smith is the staff contact for the project.