San Gabriel Plaza
A mixed-use project entitled for 153 condominiums and 34,835 sq ft of retail has sat unbuilt since 2020. San Gabriel's City Council extended its development agreement to April 2028 after the owner said the approved design no longer pencils.
Units
153
Site area
~3.66 acres per the 2020/2025 packets; a 2018 environmental review used a larger 4.09-acre envelope including an optional, since-dropped third phase
Details
- Address
- 220 S. San Gabriel Boulevard, San Gabriel, CA
- Case number
- PL-16-162 (entitled by Ordinance 651, extended by Ordinance 722)
- Developer
- San Gabriel Square LLC (Edward Chang, manager)
- Commercial
- 34,835 sq ft retail/restaurant
- CEQA status
- IS/MND, SCH 2018081006 (2018); city states the 2020 MND remains valid for the 2025 extension
- Development agreement term
- Extended to April 17, 2028 by Ordinance 722 (originally required a certificate of occupancy by April 17, 2026)
- Hearing
- 2025-10-21, San Gabriel City Council
- Council vote
- 4-0 (one member absent)
- Redesign
- Owner stated August 2025 that the approved design may not be financially feasible and that a new, unnamed architect has been engaged to explore alternatives
What's proposed
The entitled program is 153 residential condominiums and about 34,835 square feet of retail and restaurant space across roughly 3.66 acres, spanning several parcels between San Gabriel Boulevard and the surrounding block. A 2018 environmental review had covered a larger, three-phase version with an optional fourth building; that optional phase was dropped before the project's 2020 approval.
What it's replacing
The site combines nine parcels that were previously developed with older commercial buildings. San Gabriel Square LLC, whose manager is listed as Edward Chang, has held the entitlement since it was first filed in 2016.
How it got here
The application, PL-16-162, went through Planning Commission and City Council review across 2019 and early 2020, including a round where the council sent the applicant back for design and condition changes before final approval. The council adopted Ordinance 651 in March 2020, entitling the Planned Development, a development agreement, a street vacation, and a tentative tract map. That agreement required a certificate of occupancy by April 17, 2026 — a deadline the project was nowhere close to meeting. In August 2025 the owner requested a two-year extension, telling the city that construction costs and financing conditions since the pandemic made the approved design infeasible, and that a new architect had been retained to study a redesign. The council introduced the extension ordinance October 7 on a 4-0 vote with no public speakers, then adopted Ordinance 722 on October 21, pushing the certificate-of-occupancy deadline to April 17, 2028.
Where it stands
Entitled, unbuilt, and now explicitly in a holding pattern: the 2025 extension exists to give the owner time to redesign, not to start construction. Kollin Altomare Architects designed the originally approved scheme; whoever the owner has since engaged has not been identified in any city record reviewed for this post.
What this means if you live nearby
The zoning and unit count approved in 2020 — up to 153 units and 34,835 square feet of commercial space — remain the ceiling for this site through at least April 2028, whatever shape a redesign eventually takes. A stalled, fully entitled project like this one is a reminder that an approval is not a construction timeline; San Gabriel Boulevard has at least two entitled-but-unbuilt projects on the books at once, this one and Rubio Village a few blocks away.
Team
Source (staff-report): https://www.sangabrielcity.com/DocumentCenter/View/23960/Item-5B---Ord-No-722---Extending-Development-Agreement---PL-16-162---220-S-San-Gabriel-Blvd · retrieved 2026-09-06 · last verified 2026-09-06
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