A developer wants to redevelop a motel on El Camino Real in Palo Alto, using a controversial law that’s been in effect for less than a week.
Developer Bayhill Ventures submitted an application with the city on July 1, the day SB79 went into effect, to redevelop the Coronet Motel at 2455 El Camino Real into an apartment building, planning documents show.
Bayhill and owner Hans Brender of Atherton are using state law SB79 to get quick approval on buildings up to seven stories within a quarter-mile of a Caltrain station.
There is a two-week window in Palo Alto where developers can submit applications under SB79 because rules the council approved on June 15 don’t kick in until 30 days after the vote.
SB79 could result in 1,600 apartments around downtown, including the Stanford Shopping Center and neighborhoods south of Forest Avenue, and 900 apartments around California Avenue, Planning Director Jonathan Lait said in a report for council.
Looks like a prison or maybe Fort Knox.
There is nothing controversial about SB 79: the people of California, through their elected representatives, passed a law allowing multi-family homes near busy mass transit stations. I’m glad it has gone into effect in Palo Alto (at least for the first half of July).
The proposal here is a six-story building with 76 new homes, including 12 affordable. It is less than a ten-minute walk to the Cal Train, and even closer to the stores along California Avenue. I like the Coronet Hotel (I happened to spend a couple nights there last month), but this these new homes will be a much better use of this land.