Posted on: March 12, 2026
San Mateo County officials plan to rezone key development sites in one of the Bay Area’s most expensive apartment markets after finding their housing plan could fall short of state requirements.
The county aims to convert about 25 acres to allow more housing and drive more development near transit — one of its most effective tools to lower living costs and meet state housing targets.
Right now, officials are required to plan for 2,833 homes in unincorporated portions of the county by 2031, but its current inventory of sites only supports about 1,869 units, leaving a gap of roughly 964 homes. (The county’s incorporated cities have their own targets for housing production, the city of San Mateo, for example, has a target of more than 7,000 housing units.)
Pushing development toward transit
By changing zoning on additional land, officials say capacity could rise to about 3,844 units, creating a buffer of just over 1,000 homes above the state requirement.
The county is steering more dense housing toward the area around the Colma BART station. Zoning there already allows dense apartments and mixed-use buildings, and officials plan to streamline the rules to encourage more projects.
San Mateo is planning more housing near the Colma station than at any point in its history, Jeremy Levine, policy manager at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, told the Business Times.
“It’s going big,” Levine said.
The efforts also follow the passage of SB 131, which exempts housing-element rezonings from parts of the state’s environmental review law. That could make it easier for local governments to meet state housing targets.
San Mateo housing crunch
The plan comes as the AI boom draws tech workers back to Bay Area offices while apartment development remains near historic lows.
The effective rent in the Bay Area climbed to another record high, closing the fourth quarter of 2025 at $2,942 per unit. San Mateo County apartment rents were up 5.2% year over year, second only to San Francisco County. More Peninsula cities are targeting El Camino Real for denser housing. One of the largest projects yet involves an El Camino Safeway.
Over the past decade, the largely rural unincorporated portions of San Mateo County have grown modestly, reaching about 66,000 residents — less than a tenth of the county’s overall population of 764,442. Even so, housing construction hasn’t kept pace, local planning officials say. The population is getting older even as younger workers move in, increasing demand for different types of housing.
Most homes are owner-occupied single-family houses, planners say, leaving relatively few rental options. High costs mean many residents — especially renters — are paying more than they can afford, and overcrowding remains common.
Developers are working with the county to add more housing supply. Last fall, a San Diego developer broke ground on a $70 million project for residents that have been shut out of one of California’s priciest housing markets. Affirmed Housing is building 86 apartments in unincorporated North Fair Oaks, San Mateo County’s lowest-income community where displacement pressures run high.
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