With bugles blaring and cigar smoke lingering, thoroughbred racing came to an end at Bay Meadows in May of 2008, as favorites like BackBackBackGone and Little Dude thundered across the finish line for the last time.
It was sad, but a long time coming. Attendance at the San Mateo racetrack had been dwindling for years and the property owners envisioned a better use: A pioneering redevelopment that would bring 5 million square feet of housing and office space along with 18 acres of open space to an 83-acre site that sits right on top of a Caltrain station.
“It was our own California version of New Urbanism,” said Chris Meany, whose company Wilson Meany is developing the property with Stockbridge…