Marin City housing project intrigues: Offer fails, but sale ‘in progress’

Developer Jack Krystal said he declined a pitch to shift some apartments from the 825 Drake Ave. complex to a parcel he owns along Richardson Bay.

A southern Marin developer said his help was enlisted in resolving a controversy over an apartment complex planned in Marin City, but he declined the offer.

Jack Krystal said he was approached about the possibility of relocating about half of the 74 apartments slated for 825 Drake Ave. to a 2.2-acre parcel he owns nearby at 260 Redwood Highway. The property is along the Richardson Bay shoreline.

“Somebody called me,” Krystal said, “and I quickly derailed that saying that my property would not be available for that.”

In May, Marin County Community Development Agency Director Sarah Jones announced that the county and the developer of the Marin City project, Caleb Roope, chief executive officer of Pacific West Communities, were exploring the possibility of shifting 32 apartments to a new, undisclosed location in southern Marin.

Said Jones: “I’m not aware of any conversations with Jack Crystal. I’ve not had any discussions.”

Asked if it was Roope who called him, Krystal said, “It may have been him. I’m not sure. It was not someone that I knew.”

Roope did not respond to a request for comment.

Krystal’s property is on the site inventory list in the county’s new housing element. All the properties listed on the inventory have been cleared for development with only ministerial review. That means they are not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act or denial by local elected bodies. The only requirement developers will face, beyond basic safety and environmental regulations, is conformance with a new “form-based” code.

In January 2023, county supervisors adopted an updated version of the countywide plan’s housing element to comply with a state mandate to accommodate 3,569 new homes in unincorporated areas by 2031. The housing element actually identifies 148 sites to accommodate 5,197 dwellings. Krystal’s property has been approved for development of 36 dwellings.

Krystal tried unsuccessfully for over four decades to get various development proposals for the 260 Redwood Highway site approved by county officials. In 1977, he proposed building a 12-story, 300-room hotel on the site. By 2018, he had scaled the project back to a three-story, 33,701-square-foot hotel, a 2,625-square-foot spa and 3,775 square feet of commercial buildings.

Asked why he rejected the idea of relocating some of the apartments from 845 Drake Ave. to his property, Krystal said, “I just don’t think that that is the highest and best use.”

Jones said the effort to relocate some of the apartments is moving forward.

“There is a sale in progress,” she said.

Jones said she can’t disclose any information about the proposed site until the sale has been completed. She didn’t say when that would be.

Save Our City, an advocacy group that has filed a lawsuit to revoke financing for the project, has stated that it will not be satisfied by the proposed reduction in the size of the Marin City project.

Save Our City has asserted that the project will bring more people and traffic into an already densely populated community in a high-fire risk zone with one entrance and exit.

Additionally, the group has said that it will impede the view of residents living in an adjacent housing complex for seniors, that it will hinder access to the only park in Marin City, and that it would further contribute to the gentrification of the community.