Development permits were submitted to approve the demolition of existing structures at 2850 West Bayshore Road in Midtown, Palo Alto. The project proposal includes reviewing the permits to allow the demolition and new construction of forty-eight three-story attached residential townhomes.
2850 West Bayshore Road Site Plan via SDG Architects
SDG Architects is managing the design concepts and construction of the residential development. SummerHill Homes applied for a Preliminary Architectural Review of the project.
The total site area is 2.33 acres. The total usable open space provided is 7,500 square feet; 150 square feet per unit. The gross floor area proposed is 101,800 square feet. A total of 98 vehicle parking spaces are also offered. The dwelling units will mostly be three-bedroom houses with an average unit square footage of 1,748 square feet. Garage space of approximately 500 square feet is also included. The facade height is set to forty-one feet, and a design enhancement exception has been requested.
2850 West Bayshore Road via Google Maps
The estimated date of completion has not been announced yet.
2850 West Bayshore Road panoramic view, elevation by SDG Architects
The project site is a prime location, right opposite the Bayshore freeway. Residents can enjoy a lush green view. It is surrounded by Greer park. The neighborhood is a walk and bike-friendly residential location with many grocery stores and restaurants nearby. The area is well-serviced by MUNI bus lines like C, E, 21, 22, 40, and 281.
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Why so haphazard and just plain ugly?
Developer: a change always to create some architectural character…leave a legacy. Don’t accept this unless you strive toward mediocrity as your legacy.
Palo Alto is amongst the worst offenders when it comes to building affordable housing. Its current leadership is outright hostile to any and all efforts to welcome more workers and families to this town, and are especially hostile to multi-family housing projects, which they seem to consider “hood” (nevermind the billionaires who live in penthouses in multi-family buildings in NYC, London, Tokyo, Paris, and most other desirable cities on this planet!).
Looking at the plans, these townhomes look fine. That said, Palo Alto’s architectural review board continues to require irrational and costly changes — even after the developer already modified the look of the exterior, as well as reduced the size of the proposed homes. (I spoke out at the meeting saying that this is a perfect place for the height limitations to be relaxed, so the developer can provide MORE homes!).
But despite all of the state law to the contrary, Palo Alto’s ARB again rejected this project last week, again pointing to amorphous claims of “unattractiveness.”
If only the Palo Alto elected and appointed leaders could see that the only thing ugly here is their own xenophobia and privilege. No matter how many pillars and balconies a modern, newly built, townhouse development has, housing is always more attractive than the traffic, poverty, homelessness, and frustration caused by forcing workers to commute hours from their homes to their workplaces.
I hope that the developer continues with this project, and want to assure them that despite the actions of the ARB and City Council, most of us in Palo Alto strongly support housing, especially housing near public parks and transportation like the urgently-needed development you propose!