"This is your downtown corridor," Kosmont Companies President Ken Hira told the Foster City Council, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal. "It feels like this is the heart of your city."
He was describing the area around Leo J. Ryan Park and City Hall. The same study named a second candidate, though, and that one is already changing. Edgewater Place, the shopping center at Beach Park and Edgewater boulevards, got a permit change this summer that lets boats rent from its dock and lets its restaurants pour cocktails. Leases are signed and proposals are in for waterfront dining. None of it depended on Foster City choosing a downtown, and every piece of it matches what the city's consultant said the center needed.
The August Vote That Opened the Dock
On August 20, 2026, the Foster City Planning Commission voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution P-19-26, approving use permit UP2026-0028 for Edgewater Place at 901–999 Edgewater Boulevard. The resolution adds "boat/watercraft rental" to the center's permitted uses and allows alcohol as an accessory use alongside its restaurants. You can read it in the commission's minutes.
The center's owner, Edgewater Holding Corporation, filed the application on July 22. According to the staff report, the request covered alcohol sales, "including liquor and mixed drinks," at existing restaurants. Before this, the use list allowed far less.
The proposed boat operator is Edgewater Marine. Lagoon regulars may know it already. It runs private hourly rentals and group tours from the 1001 Bounty Drive dock beside the Foster City Boat Park.
The approved terms keep the operation small:
- Three boats. Rentals use about three spaces on the east, lagoon-facing side of the north boardwalk.
- Reservations only. The boats are for pre-scheduled personal recreational rentals.
- Daytime hours. Rentals run 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. unless extended hours are approved.
- Boats leave daily. Nothing stays moored overnight.
- The boardwalk stays public. Rental activity can't block public access.
Under the approved conditions, restaurant alcohol service is subject to state ABC licensing, so the permit makes cocktails possible but doesn't put them on any menu yet. The resolution approves the boat rental use and its operating terms. It doesn't set a start date.
Why a Few Boats Matter to a Grocery-Anchored Center
The permit makes more sense next to what the city's consultant found when it studied the property. Kosmont's 2026 analysis for Foster City calls Edgewater Place the largest retail shopping center in the city, at roughly 8.2 acres on the waterfront. It also found the center brings in little sales tax, because its tenants lean toward a grocery store and personal-service businesses.
The consultant also pointed to a location problem. Edgewater Boulevard carries no through traffic beyond the city limits, which the report says makes it harder to attract major commercial tenants. A shopping center that depends on drive-by traffic is in a weak spot on a road that ends inside Foster City.
Edgewater Place sits on the lagoon with two boat docks, which most retail centers lack. In its opportunity-site findings, Kosmont concluded that its "size, breadth of uses and waterfront location" could make it a "downtown village" for residents. Boat rentals and dockside drinks give people a reason to show up for the lagoon. A detour for groceries doesn't do that.
The report also notes the limits. Management told the consultant about neighborhood opposition to late-night activity and lighting at the center, including a proposed 24-foot monument sign for tenants. That helps explain why the boat permit ends at 7 p.m. and keeps the boardwalk open to the public.
What's Open, What's Signed, What's Proposed
The new uses depend on tenants to fill them. Here is where each Edgewater Place item stands as of mid-October 2026, based on public sources:
| Business or space | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Osaka Marketplace, 919 Edgewater Blvd. | Grocery store in the former Lucky space | Open since its December 12, 2025 grand opening |
| Bangalur Ootery, 939A Edgewater Blvd. | South Indian restaurant | Open since January 2026 |
| Sana'a Cafe | Yemeni coffee concept | Lease signed, per the consultant report |
| Woodside Delicatessen | Redwood City deli dating to 1958 | Lease signed, per the consultant report |
| Two dockside dining spaces | About 3,700 and 4,000 sq. ft. | Proposals received; restaurant talks ongoing |
| Children's activity space | Gymnastics and active play | Planned; no operator named |
| Edgewater Marine boat rentals | Three reservable boats on the north boardwalk | Permitted August 20, 2026 |
Osaka Marketplace announced its Foster City grand opening for December 12, and the store took over the space Lucky left. Center management told Kosmont the store does well on weekends. That matters for an 8.2-acre property where the grocery store is still the main draw. San Mateo Scoop reported Bangalur Ootery's debut at 939A Edgewater Blvd. in January.
The Almanac's Peninsula Foodist reported on September 2 that Woodside Delicatessen, a Redwood City business since 1958, is expanding to Foster City and taking over the former Plaza Gourmet Delicatessen space. Sana'a Cafe is a growing Bay Area chain of Yemeni coffee shops, and in 2025 KRON4 listed 969 Edgewater Blvd. among its planned locations.
The proposed dock restaurants would use the alcohol permit. The boat rentals would use the dock. The deli, the coffee shop and the kids' space all bring daytime foot traffic, which the hours limits and neighbor concerns favor anyway.
Where the Downtown Study Leaves Edgewater
The citywide study adds context to these changes but doesn't control them. Foster City hired Kosmont because, as the Daily Journal reported, the city has about 20,000 high-earning jobs, limited dining, retail and entertainment, residents who often go to downtown San Mateo instead, and what the paper called a "precarious fiscal situation."
The city's resident and workforce survey, open April 22 through May 22, 2026, drew 134 responses. The results show how much room there is for a waterfront dining spot:
- 69% said the city needs more sit-down restaurants.
- 54% wanted more outdoor dining options.
- 41% said they rarely go to restaurants in Foster City.
- 59% wanted the city to prioritize streetscape, lighting and walkability.
A city where four in ten survey respondents rarely eat out locally has a lot of restaurant spending going elsewhere. Waterfront tables at Edgewater Place are one of the closer chances to keep some of it in town.
The draft report treats the two candidate sites differently. In the September 21, 2026 staff report, the "downtown core" is a design vision running from City Hall, the Library and Foster Square to Leo J. Ryan Park and the new Community Center. Edgewater Place falls under a separate strategy: working with the center's ownership on outdoor dining, landscaping, lighting, façade and signage upgrades, and "better utilization of the lagoon frontage."
Put plainly, the city's plan for Edgewater is a partnership with a private owner, and that owner has already begun. Kosmont's own Edgewater recommendations go further. They describe a center that "may be too large to stay 100% commercial" and suggest the city could allow a modest amount of medium-density housing as a buffer on the south side. That remains a consultant idea. Management told Kosmont that residential use was considered and rejected by the city about a decade ago, though the owner is still interested in mixed use.
What Happens Next
The market analysis is still a draft. Staff asked the council on September 21 for direction on revisions and said a final report would come back for adoption at a future meeting. No date has been set. Agendas are posted on the city's meeting portal, and the project page at Engage Foster City carries the study documents.
At the center itself, the next changes will come from tenants: build-outs for the deli and the coffee shop, a named operator for one of the dock spaces, and the first reservable boats on the north boardwalk. Each step is small, and the permit for the boats and the dockside drinks is already in hand.
If you live near Edgewater Place and want to know how changes at the center could matter when homes nearby are sold, the team at Chirko Group follows Foster City's waterfront closely and will walk you through it. Request your no‑surprises consultation.
