Mountain View City Councilmembers are poised to vote tonight on whether to allow a nearly 700,000-square-foot mixed-use project to replace the shopping center that borders Los Altos at El Camino Real and San Antonio Road.
If approved, San Francisco-based Merlone Geier Partners would raze their entire 16-acre portion of the 1950s San Antonio Center to make way for a retail/residential development. The proposal includes 350 multifamily residential units and 311,000 square feet of retail space, according to a city staff report. It would be 88,000 square feet – or 25 percent – larger than the current center.
Merlone Geier revised its plan to make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly after an “underwhelmed” council sent them back to the drawing board May 2010.
The plan also includes a 1-acre park near the Fayette Drive and San Antonio intersection, a 65,000-square-foot Safeway and a revamped, 17,000-square-foot Rite Aid. City officials have said the Safeway on nearby California Street would close.
According to the report, the project could generate $1.2 million in sales tax dollars for the city and a one-time $5.5 million park in-lieu fee from the residential units.
Because the site falls within the Los Altos School District boundaries, the district would receive an additional tax of $597 per parcel ($790 if Measure E passes May 3).
Los Altos officials have been monitoring the project’s progress, as “it could have a serious negative effect on our downtown,” according to James Walgren, Los Altos assistant city manager. In January, city planners sent a letter to Mountain View registering their concerns, which include a potential decline in downtown shoppers.
The council meeting is scheduled 7 p.m. at city hall, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View.
