Commercial Real Estate in Brisbane: Crocker Park, Sierra Point, Downtown and the Baylands

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

Brisbane is a small city with an outsized commercial land base. Crocker Park’s business park of warehouses, offices and light industrial buildings, Sierra Point holds bayfront offices, research buildings, hotels and a marina, the old downtown along Visitacion and San Bruno Avenues has storefront retail, and the Baylands, a large former industrial and landfill site, is moving through a specific plan. Each area has its own zoning chapter. Confirm the district and any plan status for every parcel with Brisbane Community Development before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Brisbane is an incorporated city, so Title 17 of the Brisbane Municipal Code governs zoning inside city limits. Several areas also carry older layers: Sierra Point development follows a 1978 master use permit, a redevelopment plan and its own design guidelines, and the Baylands is governed by an interim use chapter until a specific plan is adopted. Water and other utilities differ by area; the Baylands, for example, will be served by Cal Water, according to the city’s planning documents. For unincorporated San Mateo County land, see our San Mateo County commercial guide.

Brisbane zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

Crocker Park and Sierra Point

Crocker Park. The TC-1 chapter aims to protect the park’s character and attract jobs and tax revenue.

• Permitted. Warehousing (except freight forwarders), offices, R&D, food production, light fabrication, media studios, printing, gyms, personal services, retail and restaurants.
• Use permit. Freight forwarders, R&D with a major hazardous-materials component, cannabis businesses, gas stations, medical facilities, schools, places of worship and night operations.
• Standards. Routine operations, including storage, must be indoors, with limited exceptions. Buildings may reach 50 feet and FAR 2.0 on sites of at least 10,000 square feet. At least 15% of each lot must be landscaped, and no parking is allowed in the 25-foot front setback.

The chapter was last amended by Ordinance 642 in November 2019. A distribution buyer should confirm whether the operation counts as a freight forwarder, which needs a use permit.

Sierra Point. SP-CRO implements master use permit UP-11-78, the city’s first redevelopment plan and the Sierra Point design guidelines.

• Permitted. Offices, hotels, retail, restaurants, bars, banks, gyms, meeting halls, marinas and R&D.
• Use permit. Child care is limited by distance from Highway 101 and noise levels. Research using biological agents above Biosafety Level 3 needs a use permit decided by the City Council, under Ordinance 677 of March 2, 2023.
• Standards. Coverage is capped at 40% of a lot of at least one acre, with at least 25% landscaped. Residential use is not listed.

Downtown Brisbane and the Baylands

Downtown. In NCRO-2, ground-floor space facing Visitacion or San Bruno Avenue must be a storefront of at least 600 square feet, unless smaller is approved, apart from entrances to upper or rear uses.

• Parking. No off-street parking is required for storefront uses, and parking cannot sit between the curb and the storefront.
• Housing. Dwellings need a use permit and must sit above or behind commercial space.
• Night hours. Operations from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. need a use permit.

NCRO-1, the Brisbane Village center, allows retail, offices, banks, restaurants and medical uses, with bars, gyms and gas stations by use permit. The chapter was last amended by Ordinance 695 on April 17, 2025.

The Baylands. Until permanent redevelopment, Baylands land runs under Chapter 17.41, adopted in 1996.

• Interim permits. Any interim use needs a Planning Commission interim use permit, issued to both owner and operator, for up to five years with discretionary extensions.
• Barred uses. Commercial parking lots, heavy manufacturing, hazardous materials storage and debris processing are barred.

The city’s 2026 Baylands Specific Plan page posts a staff-recommended draft revising developer Baylands Development Inc.’s 2025 plan, with a Final EIR published May 14, 2026. The city’s Housing Element FAQ gives the timeline:

• Decertification. Because the plan was not adopted by May 18, 2026, the deadline set when the Housing Element was certified, HCD temporarily decertified the element, exposing qualifying housing projects to the Builder’s Remedy.
• Delays cited. Plan revisions, water supply (Cal Water approved a Water Supply Assessment in January 2025), the High-Speed Rail maintenance facility (cut from 125 to 45 acres in a 2024 settlement), and remediation and landfill closure approvals.
• Next steps. Planning Commission hearings in June and July 2026, with Council action expected beginning in early September 2026.

We did not confirm whether the Council has adopted the plan. Treat Baylands entitlements as pending until the city confirms.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

The San Mateo County Recorder charges documentary transfer tax at $0.55 per $500, less assumed liens. Brisbane’s Chapter 3.16, adopted by Ordinance 124 in 1967, sets $0.275 per $500 under the state’s standard Part 6.7 authority, administered by the County Recorder. That structure typically shares the county rate rather than adding to it, and the County names only the City of San Mateo as adding its own tax; confirm the total in escrow. Brisbane levies a business license tax under Title 5; we did not verify its fees. A change of ownership generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment.

Due diligence that matters in Brisbane

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm the district; Brisbane has separate chapters for each commercial subarea.
• In Crocker Park, confirm the use is permitted rather than conditional, especially freight forwarding, hazardous-materials R&D and night operations.
• At Sierra Point, review the design guidelines and master use permit conditions, and confirm biosafety level limits for lab tenants.
• For Baylands land, pull any interim use permit and its expiration, and track specific plan adoption.
• Check soil, landfill and remediation history on former industrial and Baylands parcels.
• Confirm storefront and parking rules for any downtown building.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Brisbane Municipal Code (GoCodebook)
2. Chapter 17.19, TC-1 Crocker Park
3. Chapter 17.18, SP-CRO Sierra Point
4. Chapter 17.14, NCRO districts
5. Chapter 17.41, Baylands interim uses
6. City of Brisbane, 2026 Baylands Specific Plan
7. City of Brisbane, Housing Element decertification FAQ
8. Chapter 3.16, Real Property Transfer Tax
9. San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder, documentary transfer tax

Note: We did not review the C-1, HC, SCRO-1, TC-2, C/P-U and M-1 chapters, the cannabis chapter, business license fees or the Sierra Point design guidelines. Baylands adoption status after July 2026 was not confirmed.

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

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