Jay Paul Withdraws Application to Construct Office Project/Public Safety Building

News from the City of Palo Alto:

The Jay Paul Company notified the City of Palo Alto last week that it is withdrawing its application to construct an office project and public safety building at 395 Page Mill Road under Planned Community (PC) zoning.

The letter of withdrawal is posted here.

The original proposal was for the construction of two four-story office buildings totaling 311,000 square feet, and a 44,500 square foot public safety building and parking structure.

The PC zoning designation would have allowed the construction to exceed standards in exchange for the public benefit to the City of a new police station.

 Based on the applicant's request, the City will no longer consider the application and will not complete the economic and environmental impact studies that were originally anticipated. 

The City Council expressed support this month to reform the Planned Community (PC) process and engage in an expanded public dialogue on issues related to the Comprehensive Plan. The Jay Paul proposal had not formally gone to Council for review, but was likely to be considered in 2014.

The City does not typically release draft traffic studies that have not been reviewed by the City, but due to the heightened interest in the project has posted the draft analysis here.   

"While public perception may have focused on the City’s interest in the potential public benefit aspects of the project, the City would not have made the land use decision simply based on this aspect of the development," said City Manager James Keene.

“We had always said the zoning decision would need to stand on its own. Fortunately, earlier this year the Council Infrastructure Committee began to explore other options to funding a public safety building.”