BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
One of Palo Alto’s largest sales tax generators could be moving out if a new Toyota dealership gets past neighborhood opposition in Mountain View.
Magnussen’s Toyota on San Antonio Road — one of Palo Alto’s 25 largest sales tax generators — would leave for Mountain View if its new dealership gets approved at 2249 Old Middlefield Way, General Manager Shelly Magpuri said on a phone call yesterday.
The new dealership would replace an empty office and a one-story building that’s home to an auto mechanic, a locksmith, a plumber’s showroom and a trophy shop.
Leanna Kroger, co-owner of Eagle Awards at 2259 Old Middlefield Way, said yesterday that the uncertainty has been stressful.
Eagle Awards opened in 1974 and moved to its current location 17 years ago. It’s one of the last mom-and-pop trophy shops between San Francisco and San Jose, Kroger said.
The property was sold to Magnussen’s Toyota about a year ago. Kroger is hopeful the new landlord will offer a space across the street, and she’s heard demolition will start next year.
Having to move the large inventory puts the business at risk of going under, Kroger said.
“We like our location. It’s kind of a hidden gem,” Kroger said yesterday.
Magnussen’s Toyota cleared a hurdle on Dec. 18 when Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski signed off on the project. Her decision can be appealed to Mountain View City Council.
Cars on the roof
The dealership would have two stories with cars parked on the roof. The new showroom and service shop would take up just under an acre on the 2.4-acre property, plans show.
Dozens of neighbors from the neighboring Maravilla community have spoken out and written emails against the dealership.
“Customers will have direct lines of sight into our bedrooms, living rooms and other private spaces,” said Behnam Bina, president of the Maravilla of Mountain View Home Owner Association.
Residents are also worried about noise and pollutants from car repairs, increased traffic and the loss of 19 redwood trees.
“My biggest concern is that a proposed two-story building will forever change the aerial landscape of the close-knit neighborhood,” resident Roy Lee said. “It’s essentially having a big-box retailer right in our backyard.”
The car dealership would go on four properties combined into one at the corner of Middlefield Way and Independence Avenue. Other businesses at the intersection are a car wash, an auto body shop and another auto mechanic.
Magnussen’s Toyota of Palo Alto is a block away in a one-story building surrounded by a parking lot at 690 San Antonio Road.
City Hall benefits from car dealers
Car sales are 16% of Palo Alto’s sales tax revenue, bringing in nearly $5 million in the last fiscal year, according to a report for the city by Avenu Insights.
Audi, Tesla, Honda and Volvo are also in the city’s top 25 sales tax generators, the report said.
The city of Palo Alto is planning for thousands of new apartments along San Antonio Road over the next several years.
The city committed to allowing new housing in its 2023-2031 Housing Element — a state-mandated plan for how to build 6,086 new homes. The San Antonio Road corridor is a key piece of that plan, although 690 San Antonio Road wasn’t specifically called out for new apartments.
The Palo Alto property is owned by Richard Peery and the Peery Foundation, the Santa Clara County Assessor said yesterday.
Peery, 86, is a billionaire real estate developer who lives in the Old Palo Alto neighborhood.
Palo Alto should remember what happened to Menlo Park in 2005. They increased taxes on dealerships thinking they had a captive market. In 6 months, every dealership moved out and they lost $6Million in tax revenue which was about one-quarter of their revenue. I bought my first new car from Stanford Lincoln Mercury in 1972 for $3180 out the door. A German made Mercury Capri V-6. Great car.