Hi everyone, longtime lurker who just decided to make an account and contribute something here. I haven’t lived in the Bay Area for about six years now, but I still like to follow what’s been going on every now and then. Anyway, I was just back to where I grew up on the Peninsula and thought I’d update everyone with some pictures regarding Mountain View’s San Antonio Precise Plan. Essentially, a few years ago Mountain View decided they were going to upgrade the auto-centric shopping center in the San Antonio neighborhood into a thriving, modern, mixed-use neighborhood. This project is still underway, but here are some pictures I took when I biked around the area yesterday.
First of all, here is a map of the project area, with the San Antonio Caltrain station and ROW highlighted in green. Most of you, if you commute by Caltrain, probably only see the rows of cute condos, and are unaware of all the activity just beyond. Hopefully, all of this TOD will really elevate San Antonio’s ridership, just like how TOD developments in the Bay Meadows, Redwood City, and San Carlos (which both get frequent updates on the forum) are. Still new here, so I hope I did the sourcing right, if I don't credit anyone, then that photo was taken by me.
Here is the list of projects:
Google Maps
Recently completed (within last few years)
1. The Village at San Antonio Phase I
2. Colonnade Los Altos
3. Domus on the Boulevard Apartments
4. Los Altos Gardens
Currently Under Construction
5. The Village at San Antonio Phase II
6. Prometheus at 400 San Antonio Rd
7. 4880 El Camino
8. 2645 & 2655 Fayette Drive
9. 897 N. San Antonio Rd
Approved
10. 394 Ortega Ave
11. North of California Street development
Planning
12. Federal Realty San Antonio Shopping Center
1. The Village at San Antonio Phase I
This is the project that really kicked off the whole thing. Growing up, this place was just a big box Sears and a gigantic, perpetually empty parking lot:
Photo credit: Silicon Valley Business Journal
I think most of us can agree that it looks a lot better now:
Rendering by Merlone Geier Partners
They even added a nice little no leash dog park into the development, which is great to have and something that was lacking in the area before.
2. Colonnade Los Altos
Some of the developments I’ve listed here are also from neighboring Los Altos, whose El Camino zoning rules encourage more density and mixed use than the rest of the city and is right next to Mountain View’s San Antonio developments.
Colonnade is a mixed use development with apartments and some retail, with a few short blocks of condos in the back. It replaced a couple single story retail structures and parking lots. From my understanding, Stanford University has bought the whole place out to house its professors, highlighting the housing crisis this area faces.
3. Domus on the Boulevard Apartments
Four-story cookie cutter apartments:
4. Los Altos Gardens
Three story cookie cutter apartments, with some offices:
5. The Village at San Antonio Phase II
This is the second phase of developer Merlone Geier’s The Village at San Antonio development. While the first featured housing and retail, this one unfortunately includes no housing and will only add to Mountain View’s office stock and jobs imbalance, along with a movie theater and a hotel. Still, this is a step up from the big box store design that Ross occupied and giant unused parking lot that used to exist here.
Rendering by Merlone Geier
Some office buildings
This used to be where Shockley Labs was located. To those unfamiliar, this is commonly regarded as the birthplace of Silicon Valley. The developer has stated that they plan to erect some sort of statue or plaque to memorialize the location’s history.
This is where the hotel and movie theater will go. I like the wavy skin they added to the parking structure.
6. Prometheus at 400 San Antonio Rd
This mixed use development will add 583 units to the city’s housing stock, in two five-story and one seven-story apartments, the height of which has definitely caused some consternation among the neighbors.
Rendering by Prometheus
Construction is moving along pretty quickly, a month ago it was just dirt in a hole.
7. 4880 El Camino
The unanimous city council approval of this five story apartment building has led to a collective freak out in NIMBY Los Altos, leading to a moratorium on all new construction on El Camino that was only just lifted. Once completed, it will become the tallest building in the city. On the other hand, my only complaint was that the neighboring Jack in the Box and parking lot wasn’t gobbled up as part of this development.
Renderings on Los Altos Politico Blog
Seriously though, if you look at its neighbors across the street in Mountain View, the height doesn’t really stand out that much.
Construction is already underway
8. 2645 & 2655 Fayette Drive
This four-story, 24-unit apartment building replaces six single family homes and a small commercial building.
Rendering by the DeNardi Group
One of the single family homes that is being demolished for this project
9. 897 N. San Antonio Road
Not much to say except I wish Los Altos built more of those five story apartments on prime land like this, instead of just two stories, although the lot is admittedly pretty small.
10. 394 Ortega Ave.
This development by Anton Cortega is a four-story 144-unit apartment building that replaces one(!) single family home that used to be on some sort of a farm.
Rendering by Anton Cortega
The farmland has already been cleared and prepped for construction:
11. North of California street development
This as of now unnamed development replaces an old shopping center anchored by Safeway (that has since moved to the Village Phase I development), and a two-story office structure. It will add 642 new residential units and 16,6000 square feet of new commercial space. There have been some delays in getting this project off the ground; first, the Los Altos School District was eyeing the property for a new elementary school, but that deal didn’t work out. Also, Planned Parenthood operates a clinic on this property (you can see it on the left corner of the first Village Phase II photo), and before any construction can start they need to find a new home. The good news is that Santa Clara county appears to have struck a deal for them to share space in the new county clinic. No renderings exist yet but the part of the lot where Safeway used to be has been unoccupied for years, so I’m excited for ground to finally break.
12. Federal Realty San Antonio Shopping Center
This will be by far the largest development to happen in the neighborhood, and once it is done, will complete the redevelopment of San Antonio shopping center. This project is still a pipe dream, and even though owner Federal Realty submitted a plan to the city two years ago, there is a jumble of lease agreements that need to expire before any construction can start. So the future buildout of this project will likely take years and be done piece by piece. In the meantime, this prime land, next to a VTA/Stanford bus hub and Caltrain station, will remain a sea of surface parking brought to you by Walmart and Kohl’s.
Diagram from Los Altos Politico Blog
Federal Realty was supposed to submit a plan to the City Council earlier this year, but for some reason decided not to. So for now, the future of this lot is up in the air.
Well there you have it, a master list of all the TOD projects that will make up this newly revamped San Antonio neighborhood in Mountain View. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did putting it together!
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