Palo Alto’s housing vision has yet to win state approval, but it’s most ambitious policy — the transformation of an industrial area on the city’s southern edge into a residential hub — received another boost last week when a local property owner applied to build a seven-story building with 100 apartments on Fabian Way.
The proposal from Sand Hill Property Company would demolish two single-story commercial buildings that currently house an auto repair shop, a cleaning service and a flooring contractor to build a seven-story building with 100 apartments at 4105 Fabian Way, near East Charleston Road. Fifteen of the units would be designated as below-market-level apartments for residents making 80% or less of area median income, according to the application.
The proposal is part of a wave of recent projects that developers are hoping to build around San Antonio Road, an artery that separates Palo Alto and Mountain View and that in some ways illustrates the two cities’ different approaches to development. Mountain View adopted in 2019 an area plan that encourages mixed-use projects and pedestrian amenities along San Antonio. The most prominent development in the area is the San Antonio Center, which includes housing, retail, offices and a cinema.
On the Palo Alto side, the area remains mostly commercial and industrial, though it also includes residential communities such as the Moldaw Residences and the Greenhouse 1 and Greenhouse 2 condominium developments near Middlefield Road.
That, however, is changing as the City Council moves ahead with its plan to encourage construction of more than 2,000 residential units — roughly one-third of its entire housing allocation — on the south end of the city by 2030. In May, the Palo Alto City Council approved a 75-condominium project at 800 San Antonio Road. The project would stand next to a 102-apartment complex at 788 San Antonio Road that the council approved last year.
The city is also reviewing a 198-apartment complex that the developer Acclaim Companies is trying to build at 762 San Antonio Road by invoking the “builder’s remedy,” a provision of the state code that applies to cities without approved housing plans and that allows builders to effectively ignore most of local zoning regulations and design standards. Another such project in the pipeline is a proposal by developer Jeff Farrar for 350 apartments at 3997 Fabian Way.
The Sand Hill Property project is not just relying on the builder’s remedy — the developer is also requesting various exemptions from local zoning rules. The 79-foot-tall building would, for example, exceed the city’s 60-foot height limit for the site. It would occupy 87% of the lot, exceeding the local limit of 70%, and it would violate the existing rules for building setbacks. While it would normally be required to provide a front setback of 20 feet for the building (the distance between the sidewalk and the building itself), the proposed design would provide no setback at all, though it would maintain a sidewalk width of 10 to 13 feet, according to the application.
For Palo Alto council members, the wave of housing projects presents both a welcome opportunity and a daunting challenge. The city is required to plan for 6,086 new housing units by 2030 and the recent projects in some ways validate the council’s approach to focus much of this growth on the area around San Antonio. Yet council members also routinely acknowledge that this part of the city falls woefully short when it comes to amenities such as public transportation, bike facilities, parks and retail spaces.
To address these shortcomings, the city recently commissioned a group of urban planning students from California Polytechnic State University to create a plan for a segment of San Antonio between Middlefield Road and U.S. Highway 101. The plan that the students presented to the council in March calls for a mix of housing types, ranging from single-family homes to apartment buildings with densities of 30 to 40 units per acre. It also includes a protected bikeway along San Antonio Road a new park just west of U.S. Highway 101.
Council members acknowledged during the March 18 discussion of the San Antonio plan that the area needs more amenities to become a true community.
“We don’t want to just warehouse people in his corridor,” council member Pat Burt said during the hearing.
Now, the city is embarking on a broader, longer and more expensive planning effort for the San Antonio Road corridor. On June 20, the city went out to bid on an area plan for the San Antonio Road corridor — akin to what Mountain View approved in 2019. According to the city’s request for proposals, the plan will establish “infrastructure and other improvements that will support the redevelopment of the area surrounding San Antonio Road.”
The area plan will take between two years and 30 months to complete. Its components are set to include creating walkable and bikeable neighborhoods; improving access to schools, retail and other places of interest; improving crossings at major intersections; enhancing open space; and encouraging economic vitality. Palo Alto plans to pick a consultant to guide this effort later this year.
The lack of a master plan in effect today is forcing the council to evaluate each project on an ad hoc basis to determine whether it should approve the requested zoning exemptions. During the May hearing on 800 San Antonio Road, Vice Mayor Ed Lauing acknowledged that until such a plan is in place, the council will not have clear guidelines for evaluating new projects when it comes to open space, bike safety and other needed improvements.
“It’s a problem. We don’t have a master plan for the San Antonio area,” Lauing said. “We have a wish list.”
The new project from Sand Hill Property Company would include residential amenities such as bike storage facilities on the ground level and on the second story. There would be a clubroom and a fitness center in the exterior courtyard and a roof deck on the top floor, which according to the application would establish “an integrated indoor-outdoor environment for the residents.” It would include 86 one-bedroom units and 14 studios, according to the application.
The project is also invoking Senate Bill 330, which streamlines the approval process and prohibits the city from changing zoning and design rules in ways that would create barriers for the proposed development.
“The project would not only provide housing to the City of Palo Alto but also define the density of the vicinity for future developments,” the application states. “Within walking distance to several community parks, shopping centers, and onto bus routes, there is no better location for high-density housing.”
Palo Alto could have had a five-story building here, under the “Planned Home Zoning” program. But they rejected it, leading to this proposal. Think of PHZ as “Pretend Home Zoning” — the city invites applications and then rejects them all.
Crazy to call this an industrial area. It’s pretty tame in the way of industry.