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Mountain View’s fastest growing neighborhood may soon have another high-density housing project on the way, with a newly submitted proposal to raze a gas station and replace it with five-story condominiums.
The project, currently under review by city staff, calls for demolishing the Valero gas station at the corner of San Antonio Road and California Street and building 63 condos in its place. The first floor will also have roughly 2,000 square feet of retail space.
The project follows a trend of high-density development bordering the San Antonio shopping center, which has seen heavy construction and has rapidly evolved in recent years. Its next-door neighbors include Prometheus’ recently completed 583-unit apartment complex and a second, even larger 632-unit housing project under construction across the street.
If the latest project is approved, the one-block area around the San Antonio shopping center will have upwards of 1,300 housing units either recently built or on the way.
The surge in residential construction is fueled by Mountain View’s 2014 changes to the zoning in and around the San Antonio shopping center, which serves as a blueprint for boosting density and spurring a mix of residential and office development. The zoning changes west of San Antonio Road and north of California Street allow up to five-story buildings, though developers can use so-called density bonuses to exceed those height limits.
The developer, listed only as 334 San Antonio LLC, is seeking to build the 63-unit condominium building on the 0.62-acre corner property, with one story of underground parking tucked underneath. That comes out to about 102 units per acre, which is among the highest density projects in the city but still on par with the nearby Prometheus development.
The proposal mirrors a similar project down the street on Fayette Drive, in which 44 condos were stacked six stories tall on a bite-sized property. That project won council approval late last year, but has not yet received permits to start building.
State records show 334 San Antonio LLC was registered late last year and is owned by Naresh Krishnamoorti, a managing partner with the real estate investment firm Menlo Partners.
Add in the proposed condos, and the intersection of San Antonio and California could get a lot more crowded. Across the street within the shopping center, the developer Merlone Geier is looking to demolish the old Milk Pail Market building and replace it with seven-story offices. To date, council members have been reluctant to embrace the Merlone Geier project, which violates numerous zoning standards and would require exceptions from the city.
These large condos being built on San Antonio Road are really an eye sore. I had always enjoyed driving on San Antonio Road because I could see the beautiful mountains in the distance. These large condos are ugly, and obstruct the visual beauty of the mountains. Now, with the acute water shortage all over California, how is building more large condos with a massive amount of new units for people to live in, appropriate for the global warming nightmare we are going to experience in our future? We have long days of heat-wave, and wildfires regularly now during Summer in California. I understand developer, (Merlone Geier), wants to build a seven story office building where the former “Milk Pail” used to be located on California. That intersection is going to be visually “ugly”, and a traffic nightmare. Personally, I am in favor of more parks, and less high rise monstrosities. Mountain View City Council’s priorities are skewed, in my opinion.
I own a condominium within walking distance of this gas station. The proposed apartments are a very bad idea. In addition to being a busy gas station, this property has a working repair garage. There are no others for almost a mile. I get my gas here almost exclusively. The clerks are friendly and the store is clean. I also do not have to worry about getting my credit cards skimmed as they were two weeks ago at a Shell station on El Camino in San Carlos. The nearby new apartments, built with ugly, cookie cutter designs, are virtually empty, We don’t need more apartments in this area. We need a gas station. I’m not even mentioning the existing traffic congestion in this once, very walkable, neighborhood.
Traffic traffic traffic traffic traffic traffic traffic traffic traffic ….
When I asked the city about this area’s traffic infrastructure in a community mtg I was told “shuttle busses and bike lanes”. Yeah, right.
what are these council members thinking? I know they would not be approving all this San Antonio/El Camino/California Street development if they lived down here.
I live in the area, and I am very happy to see all of this development. We need more density around public transit hubs, such as the San Antonio area. This is good use of space. Way to go Mountain View!
All of these condo & apartment highrises have what is called “retail spaces”…but alas there are very few businesses yet to open. What a crock.
If y’all really cared about traffic, you’d complain more about the Facebook offices than about housing. San Antonio is a great spot for an apartment building.
Dear Council members and other Mountain View decision makers,
Have you consulted your conscience about how your relentless support of dense development in the area around San Antonio Shopping Center has affected the quality of life of those of us who live nearby? If not, please drop by. Walk around. Or (try to) take a leisurely drive. Pause, and try to understand why many current residents – especially those of us who have been here long enough to remember – have shed a few tears, and have become increasingly despondent as the situation continues to deteriorate. Does it matter to you?
Would you and your family – especially if you are blessed with younger children – be eager to move down here? Please quiet your mind, and reflect a bit.
Thanks!
Converting a gas station into housing/retail will be beneficial to the neighborhood: less in/out traffic, safer bike lanes, more walkable … not to mention less toxic fumes.
Please, please, please build the new proposed school before building anymore housing!
Great to see! This is a vibrant neighborhood with grocery stores, restaurants, and a movie theater all within a quarter mile. And only half a mile from caltrain! Perfect candidate for denser housing.
Also, as someone of very average income, great to see missing middle housing getting built.
Getting rid of the gas station will reduce traffic and make the neighborhood a lot nicer.
Great to see! This is a vibrant neighborhood with grocery stores, restaurants, and a movie theater all within a quarter mile. And only half a mile from caltrain! Perfect candidate for denser housing.
Also, as someone of very average income, great to see missing middle housing getting built.
Getting rid of the gas station will reduce traffic and make the neighborhood a lot nicer.
Not even complete with the high-rise at the old Safeway property, and another proposal sign gets planted. Watch out Mountain View residents, as we may wake up some day with a proposal sign in our front yards (for those of us that even have them). I’m convinced the city leaders are all on the take as I’ve never seen a city so callously decimate it’s neighborhoods’ restaurants, small shops, and now gas stations in the name of increasing housing. What about the bank and China Wok on both sides. Gone too? Shameful. And where is that new school that was supposed to have had a $30M donation from the city (Kohl’s and 24-Hour Fitness area)? With the heavy truck traffic sure to come, we’ll be lucky to not bend our rims every time we drive by – there’s something the city hasn’t put a dime into in years – roads. Time to get out of Dodge.
All the devopement along San Antonio Road has caused quite a bottleneck from California to Charleston both ways. Exiting off 101 south and heading up towards El Camino one evening, I sat through 2 traffic lights at Charleston, Leghorn and Middlefield each. I try to avoid that stretch as much as possible now.
It should be said that the title is more appropriately “High Price Condos proposed” because these units are going to sell for $2 Million apiece, or even more. For some reason the developers like to maximize the selling price. The nearby new projects are all apartments, and these rent for $5K per month each, and the apartments are smaller. The condos will be luxury units and will sell for multi million dollar sums, or they wouldn’t be interesting to the developer. It’s not very likely that the new condos will house many kids.
This is the first new condo development in the area, so they are the first dense condos in the area at all.
This is great because it will also upset Palo Alto, who whine about traffic and do nothing to meet their housing obligations
I’d say – more likely to upset Los Altos School District, who will get more kids. Then again – all the increased general school property taxes of these units, will go to LASD coffers. As will their $750? per unit per year parcel tax, as well as their facilities bond repayment assessments.
BUT – then again, LASD administrators did a really fine “deal”. TRANSFER DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS into some areas of MVWSD (more kids and more office workers).
High density housing is needed in a high density use city (and local area). Who wants a return to the Sears store / big empty parking lot days (no theaters and very few eating places) [I miss the football-Berger King]
LASD needs more kids. It’s enrollment has dropped off markedly. Enrollment stood at 3,669 students when the district compiled the data Aug. 20, 2020. That’s down from 3,996 the preivous fall and also lower than the district’s projection for the school year of 3,929 students. Since a peak of 4,670 students in 2014, enrollment has dropped each year. In 2014 the charter School had 650 students. This year it has 400 more, so it’s not kids switching to the charter that is causing ALL the drop in LASD enrollment. LASD is just seeing way fewer kids than once was the case, and every single one of its schools has loads of room. MVWSD now has about 600 more students than the LASD charter and traditional schools combined, and this was not previously the case–they were about equal 7 years ago.
LASD schools do not serve all of Los Altos, but only about 80%. It also serves 2/3 of Los Altos Hills, 20% of Mountain View and a small area of Palo Alto right near San Antonio Center. All of the LASD areas are seeing a big drop off in school enrollment even with all the new apartment buildings being added in the San Antonio area within LASD.
Five stories?
That’s going to work as residents age into stair-unabledness.
Four flights of stairs use up a lot of floor space, too.
Very few people will drag their rolly-suitcases a half mile to the train.
Removing the gas station means longer drives to get gas;
not less traffic. Gas stations do not have cars, people do.
Traffic on San Antonio ties up & becomes slow,
but still moves.
Let’s go for gridlock; become real metro.