Palo Alto council hears prescreening for 158‑unit project at Town & Country’s north lot

Developers behind Town & Country Village’s north parking lot told the Palo Alto City Council on Feb. 2 they want to rezone 44 and 88 Encina Avenue to allow two seven‑story rental buildings totaling 158 units, while city staff and council members flagged parking, utilities and circulation as outstanding issues.

At a study session presentation, Claire Raybould of the city’s planning staff said the prescreening is intended for early feedback and “no formal decisions are made at these … study sessions.” The conceptual design proposes heights up to 85 feet in a district that currently allows 50 feet, floor‑area ratios of roughly 2.41–2.86 where the district limit is much lower, and lot coverage substantially above the typical 50 percent threshold. Under state law changes going into effect July 1, 2026, staff noted, projects may be allowed higher limits in some instances (SB 79).

Patrick Flynn, senior vice president with Ellis Partners, who is in contract to acquire adjacent 70 Encina, said the team aims to unify the north side parcels into a coordinated development. “We’re committed to replacing every single retail parking space in our new development, and there will be no lost commercial parking spaces,” Flynn said. The applicant also told council the project would provide 20 percent below‑market‑rate units at 80 percent of area median income — roughly 32 BMR units for the 158‑unit plan.

Council members broadly praised the project’s design language, which Alan Jones of Jones Architecture described as taking cues from the craftsman and mission influences of Town & Country Village and neighboring Stanford University. But councilors repeatedly pressed technical issues: Council member Burt urged rethinking access and traffic signals to address congestion at El Camino and Embarcadero, and asked the project team to work with the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association to mitigate parking demand during construction. Council member Liu raised the unusual parcel configuration — the proposal spans nine existing lots — and asked staff and the applicant to explore whether master tenancy or other legal mechanisms could allow building across parcel lines.

Undergrounding and relocation of utilities next to the Caltrain tracks was flagged as potentially complex and costly, with staff saying some utility easements on the northern parcels may constrain building envelopes and require design adjustments. On inclusion in the city’s housing inventory, staff told council the site is not currently designated as a housing inventory site but that housing placed there would still count toward the regional housing needs allocation.

Public commenters offered mixed views: Herb Bee raised questions about SB 79’s applicability to the parcels and urged deed restrictions to prevent sales or leases to Stanford University; Adam Schwartz of community group Palo Alto Forward urged council to be encouraging of new homes at the site; Deborah G. asked whether the units would be rentals or condominiums and warned of the risks of corporate real estate ownership.

Staff and the applicant agreed that many technical issues — parking management, utility easements, circulation and historic‑resource impacts on Town & Country Village — will require detailed study during the formal application and environmental review stages. The applicant said it expects to return with a formal development application that could unify the 70 Encina parcels into a larger single project.

Because the presentation was a prescreening, council did not take a formal action on the rezoning; staff noted any formal application would include CEQA analysis and further opportunities for public comment and conditions.