A new housing project comprised of hundreds of apartments could sprout near the Palo Alto-Mountain View border due to Palo Alto’s lack of an approved housing plan.
Globe Investments LLC and Menlo Park-based Acclaim Companies have submitted a preliminary application for a seven-story, 198-unit builder’s remedy project at 762 San Antonio Rd.
The residences would be a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, according to planning documents submitted to the city. Forty of the 198 apartments would be set aside for lower-income households.
The 256,392-square-foot multi-family residential project on the 1.78-acre parcel would replace three existing commercial buildings occupied by Hengehold Truck Sales.
Matt Hengehold, the owner of the property, did not respond to a request for comment.
A provision of state law known as the builder’s remedy allows developers to submit proposals for residential projects that exceed local planning and zoning guidelines in jurisdictions without an approved housing plan. It prevents local governments from denying projects so long as they are primarily residential and at least 20% of the units are available at below market rate.
Palo Alto, like all other cities, was required to have its housing plans approved by Jan. 31, 2023.
It submitted its latest draft in June only to have its plan denied by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
It is currently one of eight remaining local governments within Santa Clara County not to have an approved housing plan.
The state is requiring the creation of at least 6,086 residential units in Palo Alto by 2031 to meet housing demand and population estimates. Acclaim’s proposal is one of a few it has submitted in Palo Alto and neighboring cities.
Within Palo Alto, the developer has also submitted an application for 3150 El Camino Real, the former site of The Fish Market restaurant.
That proposal calls for the demolition of two existing buildings and replacing them with a seven-story apartment complex on the 2.55-acre parcel. In total, the complex would house 380 units, including a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
Acclaim also submitted the first builder’s remedy proposal in Cupertino for a five-story, 141-unit residential building at 20015 Stevens Creek Blvd.
That project would demolish the three existing commercial buildings on the 1.63 acre parcel on the northwest corner of Stevens Creek Boulevard and North Blaney Avenue.
It is also blocks away from The Rise, the mixed-use redevelopment of the former Vallco Shopping Mall that has proposed building up to 2,669 residential units.
