https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/palo-alto-california-ave-project-builders-remedy-18517534.php
A 17-story, 382-unit apartment complex that would tower over a key shopping corridor in mostly low-slung Palo Alto has been proposed by a developer invoking the “builder’s remedy” — a California law that lets builders skirt some restrictions in cities that lack state-approved housing plans.
The three-building complex proposed by Redco Development of San Francisco is a joint venture with Mollie Stone’s Markets, which operates a grocery store and parking lot on the site, at 156 California Ave., across the street from the Caltrain station just east of El Camino Real. The plan would include a replacement Mollie Stone’s in its ground-floor retail plan.
The complex’s central tower would rise to 177 feet, more than three times the city’s height limit of 50 feet, according to a planning department document. Its density of 267 units per acre would far exceed the 40 typically allowed, Palo Alto Online reported.
The pre-application was filed under SB330, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which seeks to streamline the permitting of residential projects by local agencies to help ease the state’s severe housing crunch.
California cities were also given a deadline in February to have in place state-certified “housing elements” — plans that map out how they will meet their mandated goals for number of new units over the next decade.
But many cities across the Bay Area are still struggling to comply. According to state data, 54 out of 109 jurisdictions in the nine-county region, or 49.5%, do not yet have state-certified plans. Among them is Palo Alto, which has adopted a housing element for building its required 6,086 housing units through 2031 but has not yet gotten the state’s sign-off.
On a web page about the 156 California Ave. project application, the city states that builder’s remedy does not apply in Palo Alto because the city has adopted a housing element “which it believes is compliant with the basic requirements of state law.”
But developer Chris Freise, managing partner of Redco, says the proposal qualifies as a builder’s remedy project.
“While the project’s Tower A height is ambitious, this a site that should embrace height due to its immediate proximity to the Caltrain stop,” said Freise in a prepared statement. “There are several existing Palo Alto projects like Palo Alto Square, The Channing House, 101 Alma, City Hall and others that are often forgotten about that are similar in height.”
The preliminary application was submitted Nov. 21. The developer has 180 days to submit a formal plan for review by the Palo Alto Planning & Development Department. The mixed use development is slated for market-rate rental housing, including 77 affordable units making up 20% of the mix — fulfilling a builder’s remedy requirement.
But Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou, an outspoken critic of state laws that force cities to build housing, said the affordable total is about 30% short of what it should be, given the density of the proposed project.
“It is a ridiculous plan. It undermines the community with little benefit,” said Kou, noting that the project seeks to take advantage of state requirements meant to ensure that cities and towns build more housing at all levels.
“This project is using state mandates that limit democracy and do not address housing affordability issues that we are facing,” Kou said. “It is not helping our middle class or lower class with affordability.”
But Jordan Grimes, a lead member of Peninsula for Everyone, a pro-housing advocacy organization, called the project’s proposed location “an ideal place as far as new housing goes.” He noted that the Caltrain station is right there, with electrification on its way, delivering more trains per hour.
“You are looking for BART-style headways with Caltrain, coming in the next year,” Grimes said. “You want as many amenities as possible within a short distance, and having a grocery store nearby will reduce excess car trips.”
Amie Ashton, executive director of Palo Alto Forward, a small organization that supports housing and transportation choices in town, called the project “groundbreaking in terms of housing heights and density near transit, which is exactly what we want if we want to build a more sustainable future.”
In addition to 156 California Ave., Ashton noted that there are five projects either in the process or about to enter it, all of which could qualify as builder’s remedy projects. They include a proposed seven-story building with 380 units farther south on El Camino Real, which would replace the Fish Market restaurant.
There are already tall housing complexes in Palo Alto, the most obvious being 101 Alma, a blocky apartment building constructed in 1960, at 10 stories rising 141 feet. Condos there sell for between $1 million and $2 million.
“The market is there,” said Ashton. “People want to live near shops, services and jobs, and that’s what we need in order to reach our climate goals.”
According to Freise, 156 California Ave. represents “great urban design 101.”
“Add in the project’s heavy mass timber structural frame and it provides a beautiful sustainable aesthetic to set the standard for new mixed-use projects to come along the Peninsula Caltrain corridor,” he said.
Rafa Sonnenfeld of YIMBY Action, a nationwide organization of grassroots housing advocates based in San Francisco, called it “a beautiful project that is exactly the kind of thing that Palo Alto needs.” He cited research showing that there are 95,000 jobs in the city of Palo Alto and that only 36,000 of these employees live within city limits.
The proposal lies at the west end of the California Avenue retail corridor, a strip south of downtown that has been closed to through traffic since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. The Stanford Research Park off Page Mill Road is just west of El Camino Real and within walking distance of the proposed development.
“This kind of project next to a Caltrain station should be a model for the future of smart growth on the Peninsula,” Sonnenfeld said.
