Plans Merge Housing And Shopping In Corte Madera

Towns looking at new ways to meet demands for more affordable housing and to inject new life into local business are turning more and more to a mixed-use development model.

Corte Madera is expected to face that challenge with the development of an apartment complexthe WinCup property.

The old WinCup factory ran out of steam, but plans to redevelop the Tamal Vista Boulevard site next year are gaining strength.

The Corte Madera Planning Commission on Tuesday night will examine new designs for a mixed-use complex with 3,000 square feet of retail business space and 180 apartments to be built on the 4.5-acre site. San Francisco-based developer MacFarlane Partners revised and slightly scaled back its original design, which was reviewed by the Planning Commission last month.

Ten percent of the apartments at the development have been earmarked for below market-rate housing.

New WinCup Holdings Inc. closed the doors in June to its foam cup manufacturing plant, which had become an iconic business in Corte Madera over the past 42 years.

Nearby residents have expressed some concern over the project, which received a tentative endorsement in April from the Corte Madera Town Council which approved a mixed-use overlay zoning change that would combine business and residential developments on the property. Some residents have said the development will create a traffic nightmare on an already busy street.

An environmental impact report found there would be an unavoidable increase in traffic, but that it could be mitigated. The report suggested the use of an island to prevent cars from crossing lanes to enter or exit the complex.

Designers believe they have planned for residential and guest parking, including a two-story garage along Nellen Avenue.

The Planning Commission will also hear from one of the biggest businesses in town, Nordstrom, which has plans to get even bigger. The retail giant at The Village returns to the commission for a second hearing on its plans for a 17,000-square foot expansion plan. Macy's, the retail juggernaut at the other end of The Village, is also expected to soon present plans for a 20,000-square foot expansion.

Corte Madera Town Council members expressed a desire at last week's meeting to somehow link Macy's expansion plans to a new pedestrian crossing at Tamalpais Drive over Highway 101.