Commercial Real Estate in Belmont: El Camino Real, Belmont Village and Office and Service Districts

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Belmont’s commercial property lines El Camino Real, with the Belmont Village area around the Caltrain station and Ralston Avenue at its center, smaller office and service districts, and a few neighborhood centers in the hills. Next to the city on the bay side, the Harbor Industrial Area is unincorporated County land with its own zoning. Confirm city or County jurisdiction and the zoning district for each parcel with Belmont Community Development before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Inside city limits, Belmont’s Zoning Ordinance governs, separate from the rest of the Belmont City Code, which holds taxes and building rules. Belmont Village is governed by its own specific plan, whose adopted documents include a land use chapter and a Belmont Village zoning appendix.

The Harbor Industrial Area next to Belmont is unincorporated and follows the County’s Title 8 code. On April 21, 2026, the Board of Supervisors adopted new County zoning districts for parts of that area, Broadmoor and Colma, including transit-supportive mixed use and a mixed-density residential district. Owners of older industrial parcels there should check whether they were rezoned. See our San Mateo County commercial guide.

Belmont zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

El Camino Real and Belmont Village

Belmont Village. The specific plan covers the area where Belmont’s downtown and station meet, with chapters on land use, mobility, urban design, infrastructure, sustainability and implementation, and an appendix of transportation demand management guidelines. Its Appendix A replaces base zoning inside the plan area, so a Village parcel’s uses, height and ground-floor rules come from that appendix, not from the citywide districts. We did not review the appendix’s district standards for this page.

The CMU corridor. Belmont’s CMU text amendment page describes the Corridor Mixed Use district as lying north and south of the Village along El Camino Real, and shows a multi-year process:

• January 2024. The Council considered Housing Element zoning amendments, including a higher CMU height limit, and on January 23 asked for more analysis of height and objective standards.
• July 2024. Staff presented development scenarios for height, floor area and residential, office and hotel uses.
• September 16, 2025. The Planning Commission recommended adoption with added recommendations.
• Council hearing. The page lists a November 25 City Council public hearing.

We did not confirm whether the Council adopted the amendments or what final height limit applies. Confirm the current CMU standards before pricing an El Camino site on its redevelopment potential.

Service commercial and office districts

C-4 Service Commercial. Under Section 5.5, C-4 allows everything permitted in C-3 plus wholesale supply stores, printing and publishing, janitorial services, warehousing and wholesale nurseries.

• Use permit uses. Contractor’s yards, body shops, cabinet and machine shops, laboratories, laundries, parcel delivery stations, wholesale bakeries and animal hospitals.
• Intensity. FAR 1.8 in general but only 0.5 inside the Downtown Specific Plan Area, and buildings top out at 40 feet. Design review applies under Section 13.

E-1 office district. Section 5.6 permits professional offices for listed professions such as attorneys, architects, physicians and engineers.

• Use permit uses. Banks, mortgage, insurance and real estate offices need a use permit, as do clinics and arts studios.
• Excluded. Barbers, collection agencies, general business offices and veterinarians are excluded.
• Operations. All activity must be indoors, with no noise, odor or vibration discernible outside.
• Standards. Sites need at least 7,200 square feet, FAR is capped at 1.5 and buildings at two stories or 35 feet.

E-2. In Section 5.7, every listed use, from clinics and skilled nursing to broadcast stations and utility buildings, needs a use permit. The FAR limit of 0.45 makes E-2 a low-intensity campus district; E-2.2 adds product assembly incidental to a permitted use.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

The San Mateo County Recorder charges documentary transfer tax at $0.55 per $500, less assumed liens. Belmont’s real property transfer tax article, dating to the 1961 code, sets $0.275 per $500 under Part 6.7 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and is collected by the County Recorder. Cities using that authority typically share the county rate rather than adding to it, and the County’s page names only the City of San Mateo as adding a separate tax; confirm the total on the escrow estimate. Belmont also has a business license tax and a transient occupancy tax in Chapter 23; we did not verify their rates. A change of ownership generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment.

Due diligence that matters in Belmont

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm city or County; Harbor Industrial Area parcels are unincorporated.
• Inside Belmont Village, read the specific plan’s zoning appendix rather than the base district.
• On El Camino Real, confirm whether the CMU amendments were adopted and the height that applies.
• In C-4, check the Downtown Specific Plan Area FAR of 0.5 before assuming 1.8.
• In E-1, confirm the tenant’s profession is on the permitted list or budget for a use permit.
• Plan for design review on any exterior change.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Belmont Zoning Ordinance (GoCodebook)
2. Belmont Zoning, Section 5.5, C-4
3. Belmont Zoning, Section 5.6, E-1
4. Belmont Zoning, Section 5.7, E-2
5. City of Belmont, CMU zoning amendments
6. City of Belmont, Belmont Village Specific Plan documents
7. Belmont City Code, Chapter 23, Article III, Real Property Transfer Tax
8. San Mateo County Planning, new zoning districts
9. San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder, documentary transfer tax

Note: We did not review the Belmont Village zoning appendix, the C-3 or CMU district text, or business license and hotel tax rates. CMU amendment adoption was not confirmed; the transfer tax credit treatment is inferred. The Harbor Industrial Area rezoning comes from the County’s page as summarized on our county guide.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.

Related: Belmont real estate guide · Multifamily property in Belmont · Commercial real estate services