3 East Third Avenue | San Mateo, CA

At the corner of 3rd Avenue and El Camino Real, a vibrant intersection in downtown San Mateo, the city's Downtown Area Plan called for 3rd Avenue to become a main entry and connection to the downtown core. Village Properties set out to answer that call with a four-story mixed-use retail and office building that would mark the threshold.

The site had to work hard, aesthetically and economically, while fulfilling the plan's guidelines. The building's bulk needed to feel appropriate to the street, so the third floor steps back four feet along both 3rd Avenue and El Camino Real. To serve pedestrians, the building pulls off the property line along 3rd Avenue, insets its storefront windows to form public seating vestibules, and adds glass awnings for scale and protection. BDE Architecture partnered with Village Properties to shape 31,600 square feet of Type II B construction around these goals.

Completed in 2017, the Clocktower building now addresses the corner as a gateway to downtown. Its chamfered corner creates a public space where people can gather before exploring the core, an example of high quality infrastructure that supports the physical and economic vitality of the city.

Address: 3 E 3rd Ave Suite 200, San Mateo, CA 94401

Client: Village Properties

Square footage: 31,600 SF

Construction Type: IIB

Year Completed: 2017

Modern three-story building with a clock and large windows on a city street corner.
A modern multi-story building with a clock on the white facade, large windows, and signage for Sweetgreen and HSBC, located on a city corner with trees and pedestrians.
Modern multi-story building with a clock and store signs at street corner, pedestrians, and parked cars.
Corner building with HSBC and Sweetgreen signage at street intersection with traffic lights and pedestrians.
A multi-story commercial building with a clock on the front facade, featuring retail stores on the ground floor, including a restaurant called "sweetgreen." The building has large windows, some with balconies, and is located on a city street with ped