After five years of revisions and negotiations, the controversial College Terrace Centre development in Palo Alto is now closer than ever to becoming reality.

On Thursday afternoon, the Architectural Review Board voted 3-1 to recommend approval of the dense, mixed-use development, even after board members cited a laundry list of flaws in the proposed project.

The approval -- with Judith Wasserman dissenting -- marked the third time in as many meetings that city officials voted in favor of the dense project, which would feature 38,980 square feet of office space, eight affordable-housing units and a rebuilt and expanded JJ&F Food Store.

The Thursday vote signified the project's growing momentum. On July 27, the City Council initiated the process for creating a Planned Community (PC) zone on the property, which would allow the developer to build at a greater density than would otherwise be allowed in exchange for "public benefits."

In this case, the main public benefit would be the retention and expansion of JJ&F, a beloved grocery store on College Avenue.

The project had also earned critical backing of the city's Planning and Transportation Commission, the same commission that in April voted to recommend rejection of the project. On Oct. 14, the commission voted to support it with conditions, including requirements that the grocery store have an initial lease term of at least 20 years, that the development's vegetated roof be more accessible and that office space be reduced by 5 percent.

The Architectural Review Board agreed that the project remains flawed, but board members Clare Malone Prichard and Wasserman both said they don't want the "perfect" to become the enemy of the "good." Wasserman voted against recommending approval because she wanted to give the developer a chance to address the board's concerns before a vote is held.

"It's not a perfect project, but there is a lot of good in it," Malone Prichard said. "It would be a great enhancement to this location."

The approval also came with conditions, mostly about details such as building colors and textures, paths to the rooftop gazebo and fencing around the transformer. The board also asked the developer to provide more information about the affordable-housing portion of project, including floor plans.

Wasserman criticized the stripes on the building's exterior, which includes two different colors and two textures. She called the design too "busy."

It is "too much Saturday night for seven days a week," she said.

She proposed having the applicant return with more information at a later meeting.

"I don't think we have a complete application," Wasserman said. "I really don't know what this project looks like except for the watercolor wash drawing on the cover" of the application packet.

Other board members shared her concerns, but argued that the concerns are too minor to delay approving the project. Chair Grace Lee recused herself from the discussion and vote because she works at Carrasco & Associates, the architecture firm designing the project.

Project developer Patrick Smailey said the project team has no intentions of reducing the office space by 5 percent as the planning commission recommended. Some College Terrace residents have argued that the concentration of office space at 2180 El Camino Real would fundamentally change the character of their neighborhood and turn it into a business center.

But Smailey says the office space is needed to provide the funding needed to subsidize JJ&F's rent. He said Thursday the office space had already been reduced by 1,000 square feet this summer.

"That was beyond what I can afford to do and we can't afford to take any more office space out of the project," Smailey told the board.

The City Council is scheduled to review the project in early December.