Historic Burlingame Post Office Redevelopment Achieves Full Occupancy as 220 Park

A nearly decade-long vacancy in downtown Burlingame has transformed into the Peninsula’s hottest office destination, with the newly opened 220 Park complex achieving full occupancy across its 185,000 square feet.

The project breathed new life into Burlingame’s former post office, a Spanish/Art Deco hybrid structure built in 1941 as part of a New Deal program that served as the nexus of downtown for more than 75 years before closing in 2015.

According to the developers, major tenants now filling the space include Confluent, Upstart, and SkyKnight Capital, representing companies relocating from San Francisco, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Mateo.

The complex features a six-story office tower rising from the preserved historic post office, creating Burlingame’s tallest structure by a wide margin. The city designated the post office as a historic resource in 2020, requiring its preservation as part of the redevelopment.

Two local development firms collaborated on the project: Sares Regis Group of Northern California and Dostart Development Company. The partnership formed in 2019, with the firms jointly purchasing the property in 2021.

“There was no better person to call at that point than [partner Mollie Ricker] at Dostart,” said Dave Hopkins, managing partner at SRGNC, explaining the collaboration after his firm’s initial housing plans became economically unviable.

The relationship between the firms was strengthened by Ricker’s connection to SRGNC cofounder Mark Kroll, who served as her real estate professor at Stanford, according to the developers.

SRGNC brought a personal relationship with the family that purchased the land beneath the post office before its closure, providing inside access to redevelopment discussions. Dostart contributed two decades of office development experience in nearby Los Altos and Mountain View.

The construction process required extraordinary measures to preserve the historic structure. Developers cut the foundation, inserted giant beams underneath, and moved the entire post office 120 feet away during construction of a two-level underground garage. The building was then returned to its original location before the office tower construction began above it.

Burlingame’s 2020 rezoning proved crucial to the project’s success. The city allowed developers to exceed the standard 55-foot height cap in exchange for historic preservation, with 220 Park ultimately reaching nearly double that height.

“Credit to the city for recognizing how important the heart of their downtown was going to be and getting ahead,” Ricker said. “Where else would cities tell you to go taller?”

The historic preservation requirements also provided unexpected flexibility, according to Ricker. Rather than maintaining the entire post office structure, developers received permission to demolish one of two wings to accommodate public infrastructure improvements.

“Other cities accidentally paint themselves into a corner all the time, and nothing gets built,” Hopkins said, praising Burlingame’s approach.

The project’s success reflects Burlingame’s evolution from what was known as “the sleepy suburb with all of the hotels by SFO” into a competitive player in the Bay Area’s commercial real estate market, according to the developers. The city leveraged its proximity to transit and appeal to tech’s management class to attract tenants from across the region.

Later this year, the Bacchus Group, owners of Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurant Spruce, will open a restaurant and bar inside the historic post office structure. The city is also constructing a new town square in the adjacent lot, further enhancing downtown Burlingame’s appeal.

The rapid leasing success of 220 Park demonstrates how strategic public-private partnerships can revitalize dormant downtown cores while preserving historic character, positioning Burlingame as an emerging office destination in the competitive Peninsula market.