State laws boost townhome project near Palo Alto Baylands

An area near the Baylands that has historically been defined by low-density office buildings and athletic fields may soon become the first major residential community Palo Alto east of the U.S. Highway 101.

That, at least, is the vision pitched by Strada, a San Francisco-based developer, for the site at 2100 Geng Road, which is just south of the Baylands Athletic Center. Strada’s application for 145 townhomes is one of 10 project that were filed under the “builder’s remedy” provision, which allows developers to exceed the city’s development standards. It is the only one of the 10 that is targeting a site that isn’t known for housing, the largely commercial and industrial area near the Baylands.

The project, which the Planning and Transportation Commission is scheduled to discuss on Wednesday, consists of about 48 detached townhomes, which includes 22 that would be adjacent to Baylands Athletic Center. The remaining units would be attached townhomes clustered in buildings of five, six and eight units, according to project documents.

All buildings would be all-electric and three stories tall, and they would range from three to four bedrooms. Each townhome would have a balcony and a roof deck. The development would also include a central lawn that is intended to serve as the community’s “focal point,” according to the project description.

Michael Cohen, principal at Strada, said at a public hearing on the project in October that the goal is to provide homes for families.

“Although we could’ve built higher density multi-family on this site, we elected to developer 145 single-family for-sale townhomes in large part because there is a massive undersupply of homes for first-time homebuyers in Palo Alto, especially for families,” Cohen told the Architectural Review Board.

Building in the Baylands comes with some distinct challenges. For one, the project is in a flood zone. To address this, Strada plans to raise the grade by adding multiple feet of soil. This will require removing 218 trees on site as well as an additional 52 off site. This includes 129 trees that are classified as protected, of which 46 are located on city property at the Baylands Athletic Center, according to a report from city staff.

To compensate for the loss, Strada proposes to plant 648 new trees, at least half of which would be native species.

In a letter to the city, Strada contended that there is “no feasible way to change the grade of the Project site without severely impacting the roots of existing trees.”

“The weight of the additional soil will negatively impact the existing trees’ roto systems ultimately adversely affecting tree health and resulting in tree death,” Nikolas Krukowski, partner at Strada, wrote in a letter to the city.