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Things are looking up for Yorke Lee, a local developer whose proposed housing project on San Antonio Road, near the Mountain View border, keeps increasing in height, density and unit count — all with Palo Alto’s enthusiastic support.
Palo Alto already gave Lee its vote of confidence in May 2024, when it approved his plan for 75 condominiums at 800 San Antonio Road. Since then, however, the Palo Alto City Council revised the zoning code to relax zoning regulations on San Antonio, which it now sees as one of the city’s prime destinations for new housing. Emboldened by this shift, Lee proposed increasing the project from 75 to 120 units, a change that the council enthusiastically supported.
Now, Lee is once again raising his ambitions for the site near Middlefield Road. On Feb. 25, he presented to the Planning and Transportation Commission the latest version of his proposed development, which has added three stories and 54 apartments since the last hearing.
His 174-apartment plan received up an early victory as Palo Alto’s Planning and Transportation Commission voted 6-0, with Vice Chair Bryna Chang absent, to advancing the application through the city’s “planned home zoning” process, a mechanism allows residential developers to exceed typical zoning standards.
In prior years, the project would have likely fizzled at the starting line thanks to restrictive zoning measures such as the city’s 50-foot height limit and general political opposition to large developments with no retail components. But the city is now encouraging a building boom on San Antonio and El Camino Real as part of its strategy for achieving its goal of adding 6,086 housing units by 2031, consistent with state mandates. Commissioner Cari Templeton suggested at the Feb. 25 hearing that the revised project fits well into this vision.
“Personally, I’m pretty excited about the idea that you’re going to go higher on this building, because this is an area where the density feels appropriate,” Templeton said
Lee’s project still faces a long road ahead. The commission’s early blessing means that the proposal can now go to the Architectural Review Board before it returns to planning commission for formal approval. It would then be up to the City Council to make the final decision.
Even so, the planning commission’s Wednesday vote sent a clear message: This is exactly the kind of project that the city is looking for.
In explaining his revision, Lee told the commission that he was inspired by the council’s feedback at a recent public hearing for a project at an adjacent site, an eight-story development at 788 San Antonio Road with 168 units. When the council reviewed it, members voiced some concerns about its parking plan but were generally receptive to the proposed height and density.
Mark Donahue, the project architect from the firm Lowney Architecture, said the project at 800 San Antonio drew inspiration from the adjacent proposal and others in the area.
“We looked at how our project would fit into the neighborhood,” Donahue told the commission.
Commissioners had some minor quibbles, particularly when it comes to parking and retail. The development would include 203 parking spots, which would be provided through puzzle lifts. Some members of the planning commissions wondered whether that would be enough, particularly given the relatively high number of two- and three-bedroom units, which would likely involve households with multiple cars. Commissioner Bart Hechtman noted that San Antonio Road currently does not have a lot of public transportation.
“If there is in the future, I think it’s quite a ways off, well after you’d get your project built,” Hechtman said.
The commission was otherwise thrilled with the unit mix and lauded Lee for including larger apartments that could accommodate families. The revised project would include 31 studios, 42 one-bedroom units, 76 two-bedroom units and 25 three-bedroom units. Lee also eliminated the retail space that the prior version of the project included on the ground floor. This was done in part to accommodate the city’s request that the developer move the trash pickup area away from San Antonio Road and toward the project’s interior. The shift in the driveway area took away the retail space.
Most commissioners were amenable to this change, with Hechtman suggesting that San Antonio isn’t particularly well suited for retail anyway.
“We haven’t seen the vision yet for the San Antonio Plan, but it’s hard for me to imagine that it’s going to be the grand walking boulevard of Palo Alto. … And the last thing you want is an empty storefront. That does no one any good,” Hechtman said.
Not everyone felt that way. Commissioner Kevin Ji said he would favor restoring some retail and challenged Hechtman’s opinion that retail may not be viable on San Antonio Road. He pointed as an example to Mountain View, which is home to numerous large mixed-use developments on its side of San Antonio.
“I think it’s very easy to look literally down the street in San Antonio on the Mountain View side and you will see seven-story buildings with ground-floor retail in which none of them are empty,” Ji said. “I think it’s pretty clear to me that if it can survive one mile down the street, it can probably survive here, especially as we continue to build higher density around here.”
Commissioners offered a few suggestions but no real objections. Chair Allen Akin and Commissioner Todd James both urged the architect to create setbacks for upper stories to break up the building’s massing. Akin also warned that the project may have a hard time attracting tenants if it fails to offer a sufficient number of parking spots.
He suggested that it would be essential for the project to include an effective and enforceable “transportation demand management” plan, which provides incentives to tenants to rely on bikes, public transportation and other alternatives to cars.
Overall, however, Akin gave the project a passing grade.
“There are many, many things I like about the project,” Akin said. “I hope we can work out the details.”
I don’t know what planet Commissioner Ji lives on, but in my world, I see tons of empty storefronts in the San Antonio area.
Massing breaks are a planners’ shibboleth that doesn’t actually look good. When people complain about the tacky appearance of recently built apartment buildings, they’re often reacting to features like massing breaks that city planners require.
But overall, great that this project is moving forward!
Look at that a city council putting density where density is expected instead of trying to shove five story buildings in R1 neighborhoods. You’ll never see this being built in old Palo Alto, but in Old Moubtain View….this is what the city is pushing. Tall buildings for everyone! And no parking required!
Density is expected by whom? I expect to see density around train stations. My thought was that it’s easy for Palo Alto to put buildings this size in an industrial area out of sight of existing Palo Alto residents, on a road that’s mostly not used by Palo Alto residents.
San Antonio Road is a major feeder thoroughfare for Palo Alto and it’s fitting to have a large housing project here. The new residents will get Palo Alto schools so that’s a plus too. The housing is convenient to Office Buildings both nearby and north of 101 where there are plenty.