State Laws Boost Townhome Project Near Palo Alto Baylands

San Jose Spotlight

December 15, 2025

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.

He added that the new species will be “drought-tolerant species that will bolster native tree species quantities for the county, ensure replacement habitat for birds, and reduce irrigated water demand.”

Strada is also requesting to circumvent the city’s usual rule on dispersing affordable units throughout the project. Here, all below-market-rate units would be attached townhomes and all would be three-bedroom units. The reason, Strada wrote, is cost.

“It would cost considerably more to build these BMR units as pull-apart detached townhouses or as larger, four-bedroom units in attached townhouse buildings,” the project description states.

To get around this rule, Strada plans to request a “concession,” a rule exception that is granted to residential projects that qualify for the State Density Bonus Law.

While city planners and Architectural Review Board members has provided feedback on the project’s design, staff acknowledge that the city has limited leverage to stop the project or reduce its scale. Because the project application was filed before Palo Alto received state approval for its housing plan, it qualifies for the builder’s remedy.

The Architectural Review Board found some inconsistencies between the project design and the city’s objective standards when it comes to mobility infrastructure, such as bike racks and benches. But staff concluded that these inconsistencies “do not constitute a basis for denial of a Builder’s Remedy project.”

Board members also suggested that Strada consider a duplex configuration for some of the housing units. Board member David Hirsch went further and suggested a multi-family dwelling as part of the project, potentially with community space on the ground floor.

“It’s easier for you to sell the houses as houses, but still, in all, you have to think about the life of the community after you leave and they all own it. They need more attention to these sorts of things,” Hirsch said. “Mixing of the population is simply a democratic idea.”

While Cohen said his team could consider duplexes, he suggested that it would be difficult to build a multi-family complex in this area, given the environmental constraints and the difficulty of building underground parking. He also underscored the popularity of the townhouse among buyers.

“We have recent current evidence that this type of product is very attractive to new families, first-time homebuyers,” Cohen said.

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