San Mateo County has spent roughly $13 million to acquire a cluster of properties along Burlingame's Bayshore Highway corridor, according to a Town of Hillsborough civic alert summarizing the Board of Supervisors' action. The county plans to open a sobering station on the site, house the Pride Center, and potentially add a treatment facility.
The Board of Supervisors voted May 5, 2026 to purchase the former StarVista behavioral health provider's site at 818-826 Mahler Road and adjacent parcels at 1501-1545 Old Bayshore Highway. The purchase puts the county's newest social services hub in the Bayfront hotel district, home to the Embassy Suites, Hyatt Regency SFO, Marriott SFO Waterfront, and DoubleTree.
How it works
A sobering station is a facility where police officers bring people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol to detox safely, as an alternative to jail. Staff can also connect individuals with longer-term treatment services. Horizon Treatment Services, which already operates three sobering stations in California including one in Oakland, is slated to run the Burlingame facility.
Why Burlingame
County leaders originally proposed a treatment facility site on El Camino Real in San Mateo. That plan drew intense neighborhood opposition, and the Board of Supervisors pulled support for the San Mateo location on April 8, 2026, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal. The county then pivoted to the former StarVista site in Burlingame, which had already housed behavioral health services before StarVista closed.
Community process
District 2 Supervisor Noelia Corzo co-hosted a community meeting with Horizon Treatment Services on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 to discuss the proposal. Attendees raised public safety and traffic concerns, according to a Hillsborough town bulletin summarizing the session.
The Burlingame City Council placed the county's Bayfront purchases on its agenda for Monday, May 18, 2026, including a broader review of prior county acquisitions and potential future purchases within city limits, according to the council's posted agenda.
Broader spending context
The Burlingame purchase is one of several major county real estate deals drawing attention. Burlingame Voice columnist Gregg Dieguez, writing July 23, 2026, called it "just another run-of-the-mill $13 million purchase," noting the county also approved a $29 million Foster City office acquisition. The county's earlier La Quinta motel purchase in Millbrae sparked protests and a successful recall election.
Key county contacts for the project include County Executive Mike Callagy, Supervisor Corzo, and Claire Cunningham, director of the San Mateo County Human Services Agency. No construction timeline or opening date for the sobering station has been publicly announced, and no subsequent public hearing beyond the May 18 council agenda item has been scheduled.
