The future of Palo Alto is at stake here – we need to get in the driver’s seat! We are not here to experiment with Palo Alto’s future.

We need a proactive approach that preserves the character of Palo Alto to the state-mandated housing element, which requires 6,086 units and a 10% buffer, so about 6,700 units.

Suppose we account for 790 units in the current planning pipeline, 512 units for ADUs, 839 units for three Stanford-owned properties, and conservatively 1,500 units for Fabian/SanAntonio/ECR.

In that case, we need to locate ample opportunities to address the remaining 3,000 units while preserving single-family residential neighborhoods’ character. Besides the Palo Alto Airport, these options could be the Stanford Shopping Center, the Lower Stanford Research Park, and the City-Owned Parking Lots.

Besides developing city-owned properties, we need to partner up with Stanford to create housing on Stanford land that counts against the housing element and reduces local traffic. In addition, we would effectively minimize the impact on established residential communities and stimulate commercial districts.

Affordable Housing and Sustainability

· This proposal is a perfect opportunity to create affordable housing on a large scale.

· Climate change: eliminating greenhouse gases from regional commutes, emissions from a regional airport and introducing acres of open space.

· We would be converting dormant, city-owned assets into high-producing ones – bringing $50M+ to the City Budget on an annual basis from lease fees and property taxes.

Please reach out for more information regarding Alex’s comprehensive proposal.