Upfront
Online This Week
These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on “News� in the left, green column.
Man shot in head during Mountain View robbery
The proposed mixed-use building at 3195 El Camino Real would include 48 “urban lifestyle� apartments, a restaurant, offices and an underground garage. El Camino is to the left.
Urban (continued from page 3)
common in Japan and in Oakland, though it would be relatively new for Palo Alto. The new building, unlike other major projects, is not requesting a change in zoning. Requests for “planned community� zoning have been particularly contentious recently. Furthermore, the construction itself represents a novel challenge. The development would leave the 6,600-square-foot Equinox intact while construction of all the other components of the development, including the garage, would take place around the gym. Heather Young, a partner at architects Fergus Garber Group, told the Weekly that the gym had expressed interest more than a year ago in expanding toward El Camino Real. The design for the expansion, Young said, included a seismic improvement to that structure, including shoring that would enable it to be “safely maintained during construction and excavation.� The project team engaged a team of engineers and soil specialists to work through the challenges so that Equinox would be able to maintain operation should new construction take place, she said. Young, a former chair of the city’s Architectural Review Board, said the proposed development looks to address the city’s well-documented housing shortage. Because the 48 units will target “urban professionals� rather than families (only one apartment would have two bedrooms) they are unlikely to affect local schools and public facilities. The development’s location, within walking distance of California Avenue and close to the prominent and busy intersection of El Camino and Page Mill Road, is another plus, Young said. “It is a good location. It’s close to some of our stronger urban centers, with California Avenue being nearby, but it’s also close to Stanford Research Park and a lot of the financial and venture-capital institutions,� she said. The project will also be well-
linked to transit, Young said, with proximity to both Caltrain and to the city’s two major north-south and east-west corridors — El Camino Real and Oregon Expressway, respectively. Young said the development will, if anything, affect parking positively. The underground garage would create space for long-term parking for residents and employees. The underground lot would connect to an existing two-story garage on Portage, as well as to an existing surface lot, which would be used by patrons of businesses for short-term parking. “You’ll have few-to-no all-day parking� on the surface lot, Young said.
‘We never see this in mixed-use projects — where they’re building small, relatively affordable units and providing housing stock that is rare in Palo Alto.’ —Russ Reich, senior planner, Palo Alto
Another major concern that designers tried to address with the project is the building’s distance from the road, a sensitive topic when it comes to El Camino Real. The city’s zoning ordinance requires a setback of 8 to 12 feet from the thoroughfare, and recent developments along El Camino, most notably the Arbor Real townhouses near Charleston Road, have faced heated criticism for being both too massive and too close to the street. To meet the city’s guidelines and lessen the visual impact of the added mass, the new building would feature a small corner plaza at El Camino and Portage, a “dining arcade� along El Camino and a central courtyard. These design elements, Young said, would address the City Council’s recent concern about narrow sidewalks on El Camino. Most of the area around the devel-
opment site hasn’t been developed in more than half a century, Young said. For the Silva family, one complication to expanding and redeveloping the site around Equinox was the fact that it did not own several adjacent parcels, including that of the 900-square-foot “We Fix Macs� building and a vacant lot on Acacia. To enable the project, the Silva family had to reach a land-swapping agreement with the Robert Wheatley Group, which owned the adjacent lots and which formerly owned the nearby property housing Fry’s Electronics. The next big challenge will be Palo Alto’s approval process. Even though the proposed development is consistent with the underlying “service commercial� zoning, the number of residential units means the city will have to conduct a site-anddesign review, with hearings in front of the Planning and Transportation Commission, the Architectural Review Board and the council. The planning commission is scheduled to discuss 3159 El Camino Real next Wednesday night. Planning staff, meanwhile, sees plenty to like in the new proposal. Senior Planner Russ Reich said the project offers a rare example of a mixed-use project that really includes a real mix of offices, retail and housing. He noted that the retail part would consist of about 15,000 square feet, and that offices would make up another 16,000 square feet or so. The number of residential units, he said, is the maximum allowed by the zoning code. “We never see this in mixed-use projects — where they’re building small, relatively affordable units and providing housing stock that is rare in Palo Alto,� Reich said. “It’s really kind of exciting to see that kind of combination of studios and onebedroom apartments.� The project, Reich said, is consistent with the city’s vision for this part of El Camino. “City guidelines encourage buildings that create that urban edge, with more mixed-use in this area, so it was kind of a good opportunity,� Reich said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
Rendering courtesy of Fergus Garber Group
Š FERGUS GARBER YOUNG ARCHITECTS 2013
A man was shot in the head during a struggle with a robber on Monday afternoon on Fairchild Drive, police said. Officers failed to turn up the suspect despite an extensive search, according to a Mountain View police spokesman. (Posted July 2, 9:39 a.m.)
East Palo Alto celebrates its 30-year anniversary When East Palo Alto resident Vicki Smothers was born in 1954, East Palo Alto was unincorporated land governed by San Mateo County. Residents did not have much of a voice in the decisions made for the area. (Posted June 30, 9:49 PM)
Girl dies after Saturday accident on Highway 280 An 11-year-old girl died from injuries sustained in Saturday’s rollover accident on Interstate 280, according to the California Highway Patrol. (Posted June 29, 8:48 PM) Want to get news briefs emailed to you every weekday? Sign up for Express, our new daily e-edition. Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.
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