New proposal relies on builder’s remedy, new state bill to lower its below-market-rate unit count
Menlo Park-based builder Acclaim Companies has revised its proposal for a housing complex at 762 San Antonio Road, a 197-apartment development that will go up in an area next to the Mountain View border where Palo Alto is trying to encourage housing growth.
The proposal for this site in south Palo Alto is up for review by the city’s Architectural Review Board on Aug. 7.
The new proposal has a larger facade, fewer affordable housing units and a roof deck, but will remain seven stories tall, with the five upper stories serving as housing and the lower two as amenities and a garage with 252 parking stalls.
The building is proposed under California’s builder’s remedy provision, which applies to cities which have not adopted a compliant housing plan. Palo Alto submitted its Housing Element after the state deadline and the Department of Housing and Community Development approved it in August 2024. Acclaim Companies first proposed the project before the state approval.
The provision – as written before August 2024 – essentially allows builders to bypass a city’s zoning rules when proposing housing, which the city must approve provided that the new housing allocates at least 20% of the units to lower-income residents, which are residents making up to 80% of the area’s median income.