Let's talk about the City of San Carlos, which is north of Redwood City and south of Belmont.
How is everyone in Steemit Land? Had a weird day, huh?
The four primary commercial regions in San Carlos include:
(1) Downtown
(2) El Camino Real Corridor
(3) East Side
(4) Harbor Industrial Area.
Laurel Street runs parallel to Highway 101, west of the El Camino Real and is the core of the Downtown retail and service district. The Downtown extends to the southwest of Laurel Street and includes other small businesses, generally along Cherry Street, Olive Street, and San Carlos Avenue. Unlike other commercial areas in San Carlos, the Downtown is home to small retail pads offering a wide variety of goods, interspersed by restaurants, banks, and other services. Laurel Street is a place of visible activity from morning to evening with pedestrians lining the sidewalks and vehicles pulling in and out of parking spaces. The majority of the Downtown retail is focused on Laurel Street between Holly Street and Arroyo Avenue.
Most of the businesses on Laurel Street and in the Central Business District (CBD) area are small businesses that include clothing, restaurants, auto service, personal and professional services, and general merchandise stores. There are few chain stores with the exception of Starbucks. In the last few years, the only new restaurants to locate in the CBD are those with lower priced, fast food offerings. No upscale restaurants have located in the CBD since a number of parking moratoria were implemented in the downtown to encourage restaurants in spaces larger than 1500 square feet. New retailers that have located on Laurel in the past few years have been primarily craft and gift stores along with a few clothing stores. As with many small downtowns, there is a proliferation of personal service businesses such as day spas, hair and nail salons. Although vacancy on Laurel Street is low, like many commercial districts there is continual turnover of shops.
There are relatively few residential units in the downtown although neighborhoods abut the downtown on the west side of Laurel Street. Even though downtown San Carlos has some strong attributes such as a village character, four contiguous blocks of space, new street improvements, and a surrounding population of high income professionals, minimal residential development along Laurel Street has occurred in the last decade or so.
The Wheeler Plaza development is nearing completion in downtown San Carlos. It encompasses 2.65 acres at San Carlos Avenue, Walnut and Laurel Streets in downtown San Carlos. The project will consist of 109 new condominium units with 196 residential parking spaces and open-space amenities. The two-level below-grade parking structure will also accommodate public parking with 252 spaces. The project will contain 10,000 square feet of new commercial space along San Carlos Avenue. Public access through the site will connect Walnut and Laurel Streets as well as Cherry Street to San Carlos Avenue.
The Transit Village development has commenced construction in San Carlos, near the Caltrain station. Transit Village is a mixed-use development located on 6.26 acres which will contain eight new buildings (multiple-family dwelling units and commercial space).
The El Camino Real runs parallel to Highway 101, and is the historic travel route along the Peninsula before Highways 101 and 280 were built. A variety of land uses are present, most of which are on the west side of El Camino, the east side being primarily landscaped to buffer the railroad tracks that run parallel to the El Camino Real in San Carlos. Businesses include the San Carlos train station, a few small to medium sized hotels, fast food restaurants, bars, auto service stations, and other commercial uses. Retail in this area is more limited than in Downtown.
The East Side pertains to land uses located east of Old County Road; south of Northwood and Fairfield drives; west of Highway 101; and north of American Street. The East Side is home to a wide variety of uses including the San Carlos Airport, small industrial condos, and single family homes. Retail is generally clustered along Industrial Road near Brittan Avenue. These tenants include Best Buy, REI, Roadrunner Sports, Pet Smart, and Home Goods/TJ Maxx. Home Depot and Lucky’s are also located in this region. Other uses include a variety of light-industrial uses, research and development uses, and offices. Approximately 500 homes are located between Terminal Way and Northwood Drive.
The Harbor Industrial Area is composed of those properties east of Old County Road but not included in the East Side geographic boundary. The boundaries include Northwood and Fairfield drives to the south, Highway 101 to the east, Old County Road to the west, and Holly Street to the south. The Harbor Industrial Area is home to a variety of industries including Nektar Therapeutics, one of the city’s largest employers.