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After a nearly yearlong renovation, the Community Services Agency is preparing to move back into its upgraded headquarters later this month.
The Mountain View-based nonprofit’s longtime building at 204 Stierlin Road has undergone an extensive renovation in order to increase the amount of office space, upgrade the electrical system and increase the square footage for the agency’s food pantry area.
CSA is the primary nonprofit provider of safety net services for Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, including providing food, emergency rent and utility assistance, support services for homeless residents and case management for local seniors.
After roughly 30 years in its Stierlin Road headquarters, CSA moved out in April 2024 so that construction could get underway. According to Executive Director Tom Myers, the building had served the organization well over the decades, but had become rundown over time. The goal was to upgrade both the interior and exterior so that it would be usable for many more years.
“We wanted it to be warm and welcoming for our clients,” Myers said. “And we wanted it to be a space that our staff would be proud to go to work in – that was really important to me.”
The renovations have included altering the internal layout so that there is more space for employees to work – with an increase in both private offices and shared desks. Before the renovation, Myers said there were times when staff would end up working together in hallways.
Greater square footage was also set aside for CSA’s Food and Nutrition Center, Myers said. While CSA had been trying to acquire a new site for its food pantry services, there are no longer immediate plans to do so. The additional space from the renovation will allow the Food and Nutrition Center to stay in the main headquarters for now, Myers said.
“If we found additional space at a decent price, we would want to consider that,” Myers said. “The thing is, commercial real estate in Mountain View is not a bargain, and we’re a nonprofit.”
One major aim of the renovation was to ensure that the spaces in CSA’s headquarters were adaptable, in case needs change in the future. As an example, Myers pointed out that the floors of the Food and Nutrition Center are now wired so that the area could be converted into additional office space, if that’s eventually needed.
The importance of flexibility – and the limits of the old building – became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, when CSA temporarily increased its staffing and needed more storage space for food, Myers said.
“We’ve been able to make the changes and modifications (so that) if we have another COVID or whatever crisis, we’re able to survive that,” Myers said.
The renovation also included upgrades to the building’s heating and cooling system, roofing and elevator. According to Myers, the old elevator was notorious for stranding people between floors. There was even a rule in place against staff using it when they were alone in the building.
Another major upgrade was to the building’s wiring, which they discovered was out of date and not up to current code, Myers said.
In total, the renovation is expected to cost roughly $2.5 million. CSA isn’t using any money from regular donations to cover this cost, Myers said. Instead, the nonprofit has received support from the city of Mountain View, the state of California and Google. The group also was picked for a federal grant, but hasn’t received those funds yet, Myers said.
CSA plans to pack up and move back into its new headquarters from March 26-28, so that it is open for business again on Monday, March 31.
During the renovation, CSA has been operating out of an old JoAnn fabrics store in the San Antonio shopping center, as well as a site on Linda Vista Avenue where a developer eventually plans to build affordable housing.
The nonprofit has rented the JoAnn’s site for $1 per year from the Los Altos School District, which bought 11.7 acres at the shopping center in 2019 with plans to eventually build a school there. CSA needs to move out of the space so that it is available for the district’s use, Myers said. They are the last tenant at the shopping center, after a Kohl’s store recently closed.
CSA also plans to move most of its supplies out of the Linda Vista site and into its renovated building, but will continue to have access to that space for the time being, Myers said. Rent for the Linda Vista office is $1,000 per month, Myers said, noting that this is substantially below market rate.
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