Happy Holidays

Dear RGM Supporters,

As 2025 approaches, RGM extends heartfelt wishes to everyone for a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with peace and joy.

Reflecting over the years, we have so much to be grateful for especially the wonderful community that we’ve worked closely with since RGM’s inception in 2019, when we dedicated our Vision to help:

“Shape the future of North San Rafael and transform the Northgate property into a profitable, sustainable mixed-use commercial/residential development and create a vibrant community destination with a Town Center for neighborhood-scale businesses, retail, entertainment, and events.”

At the onset, when the new Northgate Mall owner originally proposed a big box retailer and massive gas stations at Northgate, the community came together and we successfully opposed this original plan.

Over subsequent years, as RGM engaged with the community and worked with the City and the Northgate Mall owner over several iterations of plans, so much has been accomplished.

On December 2, 2024, The City Council voted unanimously to approve the proposed Northgate Town Square Project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and various other related project entitlements.

On December 16, 2024, the City Council met to approve the overall project. This was the last City Council meeting on the Northgate Town Square Project.

We look back with so much gratitude for all that RGM and the community have accomplished together over the years.

Below we take the opportunity to highlight some of the more significant successes on the Northgate Town Square Project.

RGM and the community helped secure the following successes at Northgate through our collective activism since RGM’s inception in 2019 through 2023:

• Including the Town Square in Phase 1, 2025 vs. Phase 2, 2040

• Including for-sale townhomes (with 10% affordable)

• The library staying where it is today, and the community center moving next door providing the library a space to hold special events

• The townhomes shown on Residential 2, previously 85, gaining 15 additional townhomes which include 5 affordable, for a total of 100

• The “stepping down” on the edges of the five, six and seven story apartment buildings, and improved articulation of the walls to minimize the “fortress” appearance of the

  buildings

• Bike and pedestrian connectivity improving within the site. All roads having multi-modal paths

• Adding bike racks and lockers near the bus stop adjacent to Rite Aid

• The cinema building getting a facelift using better materials

• Merlone Geier, the Northgate developer, contributing money towards the building of the promenade extension to the SMART train but the City will build it

This year was particularly challenging as the Northgate project wrapped up and the Final Environmental Impact Report was presented to the community.

RGM and the community’s additional significant successes though 2024 include:

• Eliminating the EAH stand-alone affordable housing development “Residential 1”. Instead, 143 affordable units (10% of all housing) being dispersed in the development

• Adding 38 for-sale townhomes on Parcel 1 to the unit mix in place of the EAH development for a total of 138 for-sale townhomes of which 14 will be affordable up to 60% of area median income (AMI)

• Town Square size increasing from 48,075 to 56,975 square feet, natural turf replacing artificial in the Town Square, a children’s playground being included plus the dog park being relocated

• Modifications to the architectural design in response to DRB comments received on September 6, 2023 being implemented

• Multifamily units in “Residential 5” growing from 251 to 309

• A “construction liaison”, town square manager and security will be onsite all the time during construction and available to anyone. A phone number and name will be posted onsite for reporting concerns and questions

• A traffic study will be conducted after the completion of Phase 1, 2025 of the project. Merlone Geier, the developer, agreed to pay for the study. RGM sees this as a big win as at the completion of Phase 1, 2025 neither the developer nor the City will rely on what we argued was a badly flawed original traffic study. We (and many others) had requested that a new traffic study should have been conducted before construction started, but unfortunately that plea fell on deaf ears

Once permits have been approved, it is expected that the Project will move forward in the Spring 2025 and construction will commence.

We also look forward to news from the developer as to its updated plans for the cinema now that Cinemark has withdrawn from the project.

Look for RGM emails with updates.

We applaud all of our supporters, friends and neighbors for attending hundreds of City meetings and writing thousands of letters to the City.

As an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization, we are greatly indebted to all our donors for their generosity making it possible for RGM to continue its work.

With gratitude,

RGM

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