Palo Alto ARB recommends council approval for 145-townhome project at 2100 Gannon Road

The Palo Alto Architectural Review Board on Jan. 15 voted 3-0 to recommend that the City Council approve a site-and-design application to replace an 11-acre office park at 2100 Gannon Road with 145 three-story for-sale townhomes, of which 13 percent would be restricted to low-income households.

Developer Michael Cohen, a partner with Strata Investment Group, told the board the project is aimed at first-time homebuyers and families and described the team’s revisions since an October study session. “The project involves converting an existing 11-acre, four-building office park to 145 for-sale townhomes, targeting first-time homebuyers, especially families,” Cohen said during his presentation.

Why it matters: staff said the project is a builder’s-remedy development under state law (assembly bill language cited in the record) and therefore is evaluated against objective standards rather than local discretionary rules; staff recommended the board forward the application to council with findings and conditions found in the packet.

What the plan includes: the applicant added a duplex typology to provide a transition in massing, softened the material palette away from high-contrast black-and-white, proposed parapet walls for rooftop decks and limited rooftop lighting in accordance with the city’s dark-sky guidance, and proposed terraced retaining walls and a substantial planting program that triples on-site tree counts. Landscape architect Daniel Raymond of the Gazzardo Partnership said the design adds a central green, two playground areas and a community garden.

Public concerns and responses: resident Herb Borock questioned project-specific impacts in the airport influence area, potential deed restrictions that notify purchasers of airport noise, seismic (liquefaction) risks on the site and whether construction standards to mitigate noise and flooding were included. Borock also said buyers should be informed by deed restriction language. The applicant responded that airport proximity was analyzed during the CEQA process, that the developer accepted a county-drafted avigation/avigation easement, and that the design meets applicable building-code sound-attenuation requirements. Staff similarly stated the project had been analyzed for airport influence and normal construction and attenuation measures would apply.

Board review and findings: ARB members largely praised the applicant for taking previous comments into account — adding housing typologies, adjusting color and materials, and softening the street edge with terraced walls — while asking for clarifications about adaptable units and accessibility, ingress/egress points and details of the ground-floor adaptable-bathroom provisions. After discussion, a board member moved to recommend approval to council based on the findings and draft conditions in the staff packet; the motion carried 3-0.

What happens next: the board’s recommendation will be transmitted to City Council, where staff indicated a tentative hearing date in March. Any final conditions related to cultural/tribal resources or other technical issues will be incorporated before council action if required.