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Hailed as a landmark mixed-use development project and the start of housing growth in North Bayshore, the construction of housing at 1255 Pear Ave. has been partly scaled back.
Sobrato had originally proposed to build 635 units along with an office building on the property, located between La Avenida Street and Space Park Way, and won approval to move forward in 2018. It also dedicated 1.4 acres to the city for future affordable housing.
But the plans were contingent on Google selling additional acreage to Sobrato to build it, and those plans have fallen through. Now, Sobrato is proposing to build 464 units, roughly at the same density as originally envisioned.
Sobrato’s project is split into two parts, the south side with 220 units and office space that is already under construction. But the north side, which was supposed to have the remaining 415 units, is getting cut back. Sobrato submitted a request to te city to reduce housing on the northern side from 415 (misstated as 425 in public documents) to 244 units, according to an update from the community development department. It cited the removal of two parcels from the site as the reason for the reduction in residential units.
The two parcels, located at 1220 and 1230 Pear Ave., have instead been incorporated into Google’s North Bayshore Master Plan that the City Council approved in June. Originally, Google planned to sell the two parcels to Sobrato, according to Tim Steele, senior vice president of Sobrato Development.
But after the COVID-19 pandemic, Google pulled back on some of its real estate transactions, including the two parcels that were part of Sobrato’s plans for residential development, causing Sobrato to make modifications to the north parcel, Steele said.
“We didn’t know the exact number of that adjustment until we got into it. But right now, that adjustment would be from 415 down to 244 (units),” Steele said, adding that the density and architecture were as close to the original plans as possible.
Aarti Shrivastava, the city’s community development director, also said that once Google proceeds with its housing development, it will dedicate land to the city for future affordable housing. It is likely that the two parcels that are no longer part of Sobrato’s plans will become affordable housing sites, although the exact number of units is undetermined at this point, she added.
Sobrato’s development update also referred to the removal of 66 heritage trees. Shrivastava clarified that the tree removal was part of Sobrato’s original plans; the update reflects that fewer trees are being removed because some of the trees, approximately 18, are now part of the Google site.
While construction of the southern portion of Sobrato’s project is well underway – which includes a six-story 231,000 square foot office building and a six-story garage as well as the 220 apartment units – the development of the north parcel is on hold until the City Council approves the amendments, which likely will go before them in October, Steele said.
When asked about any changes to the fee structure for the school and park approvals, Steele said there was nothing specific to report yet, although it is likely the costs will be adjusted proportionately.
Shrivastava said that since the modification to the north parcel has not been fully reviewed or brought to the council yet, it still was too early to discuss budget revisions.
“We’re happy to be working with the city on making those adjustments and looking forward to getting it approved and moving forward,” Steele said, referring to the overall modifications to the development.
What this article lacks is a context of the presence of BMR housing units in the residential portion of Sobrato’s project. My understanding is that the Northern portion of the project originally required BMR units and that this requirement has been removed under the revised plan. It certainly matters that so many of the units cut from being built were actually BMR units.
Why are we building more office space in Mtn View with so many offices still empty that already exist. More people are working remotely now, thus businesses need LESS space than they used to. Every time we build more offices, it reduces our ability to rectify the housing & jobs imbalance.
Let me see. Is there a housing crisis? Was there a non-contractual deal (Memorandum of Understanding)?
– Time for the City Council to use their Power of Eminent Domain! –
Use it for the Public Good. Force Google to sell to the City, and have the City turn around and sell to Sobrato (with deed restrictions insuring the housing from the original MOU. (SCOTUS approved use of state power). [US June 23, 2005 in Kelo v. City of New London]
The article leaves out the fact that the whole reason Sobrato’s project was reduced in size was they changed plans by Google to sell some of the land to Sobrato into Google planning to donate that same land to the city for affordable housing. The difference is that Sobrato won’t have to pay to build the affordable units within their project. They would have had to pay property tax on the value of the affordable units as well even though to them they wouldn’t bring in as much revenue as the other units. A non profit project can be exempt from property taxes which significantly reduces their operating costs for the same number of units.