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DATE: November 17, 2025
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council of Foster City; Mayor and Members of the City Council acting in its capacity as Successor Agency to the Former City Community Development Agency
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Sofia Mangalam, Community Development Director
Benjamin L. Stock, City Attorney
Denise Bazanno, Assistant City Attorney
DEPARTMENT: Community Development Department
SUBJECT: THIRD AMENDMENT TO DECLARATION OF COVENANTS,
CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS FOR METRO CENTER
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the following Resolutions:
1. A Resolution of the City Council approving the Third Amendment to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) for Metro Center and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same.
2. A Resolution of the City Council acting in its capacity as Successor Agency to the Former City Community Development Agency approving the Third Amendment to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) for Metro Center and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Representatives of Hudson Pacific Properties, which manages the Metro Center, recently approached the Community Development Department with the Third Amendment to the CC&Rs to expand the list of permitted uses to include non-transient residential uses at the Metro Center development (Attachment 1 and 3). The CC&Rs were first approved by
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the City in June 1985 and required that the City approve any amendment. Additionally, the CC&Rs require that the Community Development Agency (CDA), as a mortgagee to execute a ‘Consent of Voting Mortgagee’ form as part of the Third Amendment to the CC&Rs. (Attachment 2).
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
Metro Center was intended to establish a commercial Town Center which would function as the hub of the City’s commercial community and provide a central focal point for the City. In keeping with the vision of providing a City core, Metro Center has emerged as a diverse mixed-use development.
The Town Center/Metro Center area was part of the Community Development Agency’s 1,208-acre Project Area One established in 1981 to eliminate barriers to development of underutilized areas and to assist in the creation of a stable, diverse economy.
General Plan
The subject site is designated as “Town Center Commercial.” The City’s General Plan includes the Town Center Commercial land use category as follows:
This designation is reserved for the area located northwest of East Hillsdale Boulevard, bounded by Foster City Boulevard to the north and State Route 92 to the west. The area includes a 100- acre development known as Metro Center, in addition to Parkside Towers and other office developments. The Town Center area is intended to serve as Foster City’s downtown core and allows for a mix of uses, including residential, commercial office, retail, service, and compatible research and development (R&D). R&D uses are considered compatible with this designation if project design (i.e., site planning, architecture, and landscape architecture) is consistent with nearby uses and functional or operational characteristics of a hazardous or nuisance nature can be mitigated or reduced to an acceptable level through design control. Generally, R&D covers facilities for industrial, scientific, or technological research, product design, prototype production, development, and testing. The highest intensity uses in the City would be allowed, with Floor Area Ratios (FAR) for office/R&D developments ranging from .55 to 2.0 FAR. Town Center office developments located outside Metro Center have lower FARs, which range from 0.18 to 1.5 FAR. Residential developments range from Cityhomes townhouses at 15 units per acre to Metro Senior Apartments at 60 units per acre.
General Development Plan:
The zoning designation for the subject site is established in the General Development Plan (GDP). The first GDP for Metro Center was approved by Ordinance No. 280 on February 21,1984, for the 100-acre site, including a mix of retail, offices, hotel, and residential uses. The development of the retail center and 22-story Metro Tower occurred shortly thereafter. The GDP was amended several times over the years as economic conditions changed, most notably in 1991 to facilitate the development of the Visa office buildings 1 and 2, in 1995 for Metro Senior Apartments/CityPark Townhomes, and in 1996 for Visa office buildings 3 and 4. The most recent updates to this GDP amendment 1 0
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was to allow a limited-service hotel on the vacant Visa Lot and to allow commercial or mixed use at the 1010 Metro Center Boulevard.
Zoning:
Metro Center is zoned as C-2/PD (General Commercial/Planned Development Combining District). It shall be noted that residential uses described in Chapters 17.18, R-3 Medium Density Multiple-Family Residence District, and 17.20, R-4 High Density Multiple-Family Residence District are permitted in this zone subject to a conditional use permit.
The CC&Rs for Metro Center, dated as of May 15, 1985 (“Original Declaration”), were recorded in the Official Records of the San Mateo County Recorder as Instrument No. 85089495. The Original Declaration was amended by that certain First Amendment to Declaration of CC&Rs in 1994, which among other things authorized non-transient residential as a permitted use within Lots 8 and 10 (as part of Metro Senior Housing Project). A Second Amendment to the CC&Rs was entered into in 1995, which, among other things, revised the definition of mortgagee.
Pursuant to Section 15.03 of the existing CC&Rs, the written consent of the City must approve the amendment. Additionally, Section 14.05(2)(ii) of the existing CC&Rs requires the written consent of at least 66% of all known Voting Mortgagees, which would include the CDA. The City Council serves as the successor agency to the City of Foster City CDA pursuant to City Resolution No. 2012-2.
There are existing parcels in Metro Center (Metro Senior Housing and Cityhomes Townhomes) that were approved through the GDP amendment and other entitlements to allow non-transient residential uses. While the GDP amendments took place and non- transient residential uses were added over time, the CC&Rs were not updated to reflect the changes and left out non-transient residential uses under the list of permitted uses.
The proposed Third Amendment would expand authorization of non-transient residential use to all parcels subject to Planning entitlements and other City approvals along with some other minor changes to the CC&Rs (Attachment 3).
The applicant has noted that they do not have any residential projects under consideration, but the proposed amendment to the CC&R would allow them the opportunity to consider residential projects in the future. Should they approach the City in the future with a potential residential use, they will need to go through the Planning Entitlements and other City approvals. Any change in use would require a GDP amendment and will be subject to the Development Project Preliminary Review Procedures outlined in Chapter 17.72 of the Foster City Municipal Code.
It is important to note that approval of the Third Amendment would only allow revisions to the CC&Rs and would not actually approve any proposed housing project. 1 0
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CEQA
The approval of the Third Amendment to the CC&Rs is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq. and the CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. §§ 15000 et. seq.), including without limitation, Public Resources Code section 21065 and California Code of Regulations 15378 as this is not a “project” that may cause a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment. Any proposal for non-transient housing development would be reviewed separately for compliance with CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this proposal.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Smart Planning, Development, and the Local Economy
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – City Resolution
Attachment 2 – CDA Resolution
Attachment 3 – Draft Third Amendment to Metro Center CC&Rs