Palo Alto City Council To Discuss Plans For Teacher Housing Project
PALO ALTO (BCN/CBS SF) -- The Palo Alto City Council at its meeting Monday evening will discuss plans to establish more than 100 rental units for teachers and other school district employees.
The Teacher Housing Project, proposed by Santa Clara County, seeks to redevelop a 6,800-square-foot office building at 231 Grant Ave. into 110 residential units for employees in participating school districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
The project already has preliminary schematic drawings. The office building would be demolished and reconstructed into a four-story, multi-family residential building with 25 two-bedroom units, 61 one-bedroom units and 24 studios.
It would also include a parking garage with 112 parking spots and 134 bicycle parking spaces, according to a memo by the city manager's office.
The building, located near a county courthouse, is on county property so the county's Board of Supervisors would have the final say on the project's approval. The project also does not have to comply with the city's zoning requirements.
Because of that, the city does not have discretionary authority over the project but requested that the county closely coordinate with the city to minimize impacts on other city projects, residents and traffic.
The city also requested that the new residences be bicycle-friendly as they would be located along Park Boulevard, part of a network of streets the city has called the Bicycle Boulevard project and is targeting for bicycle infrastructure improvements.
In a survey conducted by the county, 72 percent of the 1,300 school district employees who responded said they would be interested in teacher and school employee housing.
If approved, the Teacher Housing Project would begin construction in August 2022 and take two years to finish.
The county Board of Supervisors is set to vote on project approval late this summer. Until then, the county is working on community outreach. The discussion at the Monday night meeting is another opportunity for the City Council, stakeholders and residents to provide more early input and feedback.
The meeting will start at 5 p.m. Monday and can be accessed online or by calling (669) 900-6833 (Meeting ID: 362 027 238). More information on the project, including projected building design images, can be found at the city of Palo Alto website.
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