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foster city neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
The Islands, Foster City Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Foster City's Neighborhood 5, ringed by the lagoon: 1970s townhouse and condominium groups on explorer-named lanes, with no detached houses at all, plus Beach Park Elementary on the old Charter Square site.
The Islands by the numbers
the islands by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for The Islands (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in the islands · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in The Islands
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in The Islands from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (The Islands (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How The Islands came to be
The Islands is the city's Neighborhood 5, the block of land the lagoon wraps around in the middle of Foster City. Developer T. Jack Foster's 1961 master plan called for a variety of housing in the neighborhoods, from single-family homes on individual lots to apartments; the city's general plan now notes that single-family homes ended up in every residential neighborhood except one, and city land-use records show that one is Neighborhood 5.
It filled in during the 1970s. Census estimates for the tract that includes Neighborhood 5 put about 82% of its homes in that decade, built as townhouse groups and condominium buildings on private lanes that loop off Catamaran Street, Shell Boulevard and Beach Park Boulevard. The land is the same Brewer Island fill as the rest of town: about 18 million tons of fill raised the drained salt ponds about four feet over soft bay mud, per the land use element.
One corner changed recently. The Charter Square neighborhood shopping center at Shell and Beach Park Boulevards, one of five such centers in the general plan, gave way to a public school: in 2017 the San Mateo-Foster City School District filed environmental review for an elementary school on the 6-acre site, and Beach Park Elementary opened at 1058 Shell Boulevard in 2021.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The lanes are named for explorers: Balboa, Magellan, Cortez, Vespucci, Pizarro, Cabot, Cartier, Marquette, Peary, Erickson, De Soto, Diaz, Coronado and Vasco da Gama, with Lido and Portofino Lanes for the condominium side. Streets named Lane are generally private in Foster City, and about nine in ten homes here are on one, so an association, not the city, looks after the street.
City land-use records count about 554 townhouse lots and about 246 condominium units, and no single-family lots. The townhouses are the bigger share, on lots with a median of about 2,000 square feet (computed from county parcel maps), grouped along Vespucci, Peary, Magellan, Cabot, Pizarro, Coronado, De Soto, Marquette, Cortez and Erickson Lanes and along Catamaran Street; listing records file the Erickson, Magellan, Marquette, Cartier and Peary groups as Winston Square. The condominiums are on Portofino Lane (about 90 units), Balboa Lane (about 84) and Lido Lane (about 72), the last filed as Lido Isle.
Townhouses are zoned R-T and condominiums R-3, both with a planned-development overlay, so exterior changes usually need association approval as well as city review. Inside, expect 1970s two-story plans, many updated unit by unit, with shared roofs, siding and grounds handled by the HOA.
streets in the islands
- Shell Boulevard
- Beach Park Boulevard
- Catamaran Street
- Balboa Lane
- Balboa Street
- Lido Lane
- Portofino Lane
- Magellan Lane
- Cortez Lane
- Vespucci Lane
- Pizarro Lane
- Cabot Lane
- Cartier Lane
- Marquette Lane
- Peary Lane
- Erickson Lane
- De Soto Lane
- Diaz Lane
- Coronado Lane
- Vasco da Gama Lane
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near The Islands
- park
Catamaran Park
The neighborhood's park on the lagoon, at the north end of Catamaran Street (public maps).
- park
Leo J. Ryan Park
Across the main lagoon, about 0.4 mile straight-line: about 20 acres of lawn with a gazebo, amphitheater, boat launch and courts, per the city.
- landmark
Beach Park Elementary
A district elementary school at 1058 Shell Boulevard on the former Charter Square shopping center site, opened in 2021.
- shopping
Edgewater Place, Metro Center and Marlin Cove
The Edgewater Place center is about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle of the neighborhood, and Metro Center and Marlin Cove are each about 0.6 mile.
- landmark
The lagoon
About 212 acres and about six feet deep on average; the city raises it to summer level in mid-March and lowers it in mid-November, and powerboats are not allowed.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
The Islands is in the San Mateo-Foster City School District for elementary and middle grades and the San Mateo Union High School District for high school; Census district maps put every home here in both. Beach Park Elementary is inside the neighborhood at 1058 Shell Boulevard, and Bowditch Middle School is in Carmel Village. Foster City has no high school; the city's general plan says the majority of its students attend San Mateo or Hillsdale High in San Mateo. Attendance areas change, so check the exact address with each district's school locator.
Foster City guide: school districts · San Mateo Union High guide
Getting around
- Caltrain: Hillsdale station (50 E. 28th Ave., San Mateo) is about 1.9 miles straight-line from the middle of the neighborhood.
- SamTrans route 251 runs along Beach Park Boulevard on the south edge, between Foster City Boulevard and Edgewater Boulevard, and on to Bridgepointe and Hillsdale Caltrain, about once an hour (timetable effective August 4, 2024).
- Freeways: Edgewater Boulevard leads north to SR-92; US-101 is reached via East Hillsdale Boulevard.
- On foot: Leo J. Ryan Park, the library and City Hall are across the lagoon via the Shell Boulevard bridge, roughly half a mile straight-line.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in The Islands: what we check
Buying here
- HOA first: every home here is a townhouse or condo with an association. Read the budget, reserve study, recent minutes, CC&Rs and insurance coverage, check current dues and any special assessments, and ask what the HOA covers (roofs, siding, lagoon edge, private lanes).
- Flood: FEMA's flood data show a map revision for Foster City (case 24-09-0381P) effective September 11, 2026, with these blocks in Zone X, an area with reduced flood risk due to the levee. The city says flood insurance stays optional for federally backed mortgages; ask whether the HOA's master policy includes flood, and note the Measure P levee bond on the tax bill.
- Ground: nearly every parcel is inside a state-mapped liquefaction zone (San Mateo quadrangle, 2018); ask the HOA about past foundation, slab or settlement repairs.
- Lagoon-side units: the association typically manages the shared lagoon edge, but city code chapter 9.52 puts upkeep of lagoon-side property on owners, so confirm who is responsible for bulkheads and docks.
- Parking and storage: check assigned garages, guest parking rules and any limits on boats or trailers in the CC&Rs.
Selling here
- Have HOA documents, the reserve study and any assessment history ready on day one; buyers here are buying the association as much as the unit.
- Name the exact group (Winston Square, Lido Isle or the specific lane) and whether the unit faces the lagoon.
- List upgrades done inside the unit with permits, and note what the HOA has replaced recently, such as roofs or siding.
- Have the FEMA zone with the case number, the liquefaction disclosure and the Measure P levy ready before listing.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
The Islands questions, answered
Are there single-family houses in The Islands?
No. City land-use records show about 554 townhouse lots and about 246 condominium units and no detached single-family lots, which matches the general plan's note that one residential neighborhood has no single-family homes.
Is The Islands an official Foster City name?
No. The city calls it Neighborhood 5. The Islands, Winston Square, Winston Village and Lido Isle are names used in listing records.
Is The Islands in a flood zone?
FEMA's flood data show Zone X, an area with reduced flood risk due to the levee, under a map revision effective September 11, 2026, after the city's levee rebuild was completed in February 2024. Check the exact parcel on FEMA's map.
Which schools serve The Islands?
The San Mateo-Foster City School District and the San Mateo Union High School District. Beach Park Elementary opened in 2021 at 1058 Shell Boulevard, inside the neighborhood. Confirm the address with the districts.
What happened to Charter Square?
The neighborhood shopping center at Shell and Beach Park Boulevards was replaced by Beach Park Elementary; the school district's environmental review in 2017 described a 6-acre site of an existing shopping center.
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