School District Buys 525 San Antonio

It’s official: the Palo Alto Unified School District has closed escrow on the property at 525 San Antonio Road, formerly the Peninsula Day Care Center.

“We now have keys in hand and have updated our insurance,” said Palo Alto Board of Education Vice President Camille Townsend. “Very exciting.”

The District will now look for a renter until they determine the right school program for the property and upgrade the space accordingly, Townsend said.

“In the meantime, the spaces are quite inspiring,” said Townsend. “The beautiful and lofty 'great halls' with stages are inviting for performance, meetings, or could be, as they have been in the past, divided into smaller spaces.”

The District prefers the space to be occupied, she said, because they could utilize the income and because it would be easier to maintain. 

The property at 525 San Antonio Road earlier this year sparked the interest of Summerhill Homes, who wanted to build a dense residential housing development there. That plan was .

Townsend said that Bob French, a former school principal and local school historian, told her that the last property purchase by the District was probably about 40 years ago.

“It's fun and exhilarating to take this step into the future,” said Townsend.