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Uploaded: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 9:56 AM
Edgewood meeting mends fences
Neighbors, developer, seek to avoid acrimony of Alma Plaza in proposed shopping-center development
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by Sue Dremann
Palo Alto Online Staff
Neighbors of Edgewood Plaza, the historic yet dilapidated Joseph Eichler shopping center along Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto, met with developer Sand Hill Property to discuss potential plans for redeveloping the center at a community meeting on Tuesday night.
Forty residents listened peaceably as project manager and liaison James Baer, owner of Palo Alto development company Premier Properties, gave a PowerPoint presentation of conceptual plans for the nearly defunct shopping center.
Edgewood Plaza is bounded by Embarcadero Road, St. Francis Drive, Channing Avenue and West Bayshore Road.
Following on the heels of a lawsuit that was settled last month, residents and Baer expressed a mutual desire to avoid the kind of destructive fighting that affected plans to develop Alma Plaza in south Palo Alto.
Three residents had filed suit earlier this year after Sand Hill submitted plans to the City of Palo Alto requesting environmental review for 28 single-family homes and removal of one Eichler structure. Subdivision residents claimed the commercial property and all residences within the housing tract were bound by covenants known as CC&Rs requiring any modifications receive approval from the other CC&R holders.
Baer's opening remarks were conciliatory Tuesday.
"We've had a reality check," he said.
The new concept plans would save all three structures currently on the property, including the two buildings housing small shops but would move one building to abut the one farther north. The building would be set closer to St. Francis Drive, inhabiting a current parking area.
A central parking plaza, farther from homes and residential streets, would be expanded, Baer said.
The new site plan would preserve the character and historical elements of the Eichler buildings, but could include larger windows and better doors, if approved as being within the historic parameters, he said.
Baer emphasized that the Eichlers would undergo rehabilitation, not preservation, since some elements would change and one building would be moved.
Sand Hill developer John Tze said he has been looking for a grocery store operator to take over the 14,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Albertsons. Fresh and Easy had planned to move in but withdrew due to the current economic climate.
Tze said the center's development would largely be on hold until the grocery store could be secured.
He has been searching several avenues for a potential vendor, with some possibility for a smaller vendor, such as an organic market, to come in.
The project would reduce the number of homes to 10 but they would be two-story, 1,700-square-foot homes, Baer said. The concession to allow two-story structures was part of the settlement agreement, lawyers have previously said.
The homes might have flat roofs in the Eichler style, but architectural renderings showed some with peaked roofs.
Baer said he expected the home designs to be the most difficult to reconcile.
"Just as the most difficult thing is drawing a hand because we're all familiar with it," he said.
Neighborhood leaders said they are pleased.
"This plan addresses every concern I've heard of. I hope the environmental review can be short and sweet," said Karen White, president of the Duveneck/St. Francis Neighborhood Association.
Sheri Furman, chair of the Midtown Residents Association who was involved in the controversy over Alma Plaza, said she is envious.
"This is what Alma Plaza should have been," she said.
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Posted by Alma, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 11:45 am It will be interesting to see who they can lure as grocery store tenant. I do not think it will be easy. I hope the people that have kept Alma Plaza undeveloped for years, with their power games, are proud of themselves for their destructive and uncooperative attitude.
"Sheri Furman, chair of the Midtown Residents Association who was involved in the controversy over Alma Plaza, said she is envious.
"This is what Alma Plaza should have been," she said."
why didn't Ms Furman work so that it would be that way?
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Posted by LM, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 12:08 pm This could be a beautiful setting with a high end grocery & deli just a short jaunt from families who value organic, well prepared food. A plaza in the model of an Italian piaza with homes, shops and pedestrian friendly footpaths (regardless of the architectural style) could bring together the best of what Palo Alto has to offer. Beautiful year round weather, local farms and a walking, biking oriented destination close to schools and homes. Fountains and gardens could make this a magnet to the surrounding residents. Some examples include Santana Row and Mill Valley Plaza with the Depot (Alice Water's Restaurant). We have our very own Jesse Cool to create a masterpiece. Let's use the talent and resources that we have so abundantly. This could be neighborhood jewel.
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Posted by To Alma, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 12:32 pm To Alma, as far as I know, Sheri Furman did work to make Alma Plaza a vibrant shopping center. But the Alma Plaza developer always wanted to have a grocery store, two or three other stores, and housing. The only thing that changed in the developer's plans over the years was decreasing the size of the grocery store and increasing the amount of housing. But a grocery store and two or three other stores does not make a neighborhood center. Instead there should have been a reasonable size grocery store, about a dozen other stores, plus a modest amount of housing along the perimeter.
In fact, the original design would have been great if the overwhelmingly large grocery store had been broken up into a 20,000 sq ft grocery store (the size of the midtown safeway), and about 10-12 stores between 1500 and 2000 sq ft in size, plus about a half dozen housing units, and enough parking.
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Posted by Alma, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 12:41 pm To Alma--
the history of Alma Plaza is quite convoluted--at first the grocery store was too big (wasn't the original plan to keep it all retail?) and then the grocery store was too small. Problem is that many chains do not want to fool around with a 20K square foot site.
All that and the fact that Alma Plaza was included in a building moratorium led to the point we are at now--with no end in site. Also if Edgewood lands a designer grocery store, it will be even tougher for Alma Plaza to get one.
Too bad we had a combination of NIMBYists and a all-talk-no-action city council running the show.
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Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 1:10 pm Either Edgewood or Alma would be good sites for a full service large grocery store. We desperately need one in Palo Alto.
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Posted by Sheri Furman, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 1:52 pm I DID, along with many others, try to have Alma Plaza look more like what is currently proposed for Edgewood, with sufficient retail to support a neighborhood center. I also suggested looking at housing over ground-floor retail as an option. Bottom line, regardless of what you think of me, the developer was determined to get what he wanted--which was primarily housing with very little retail--and that's indeed what we got. At no point was anything like the Edgewood design ever proposed by the developer. Even before the moratorium, the smallest proposed Albertson's was 29,000 sq ft with almost no other supporting retail. It's not NIMBYism on our part; it's what the Comp Plan calls for in a neighborhood center.
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Posted by Alma, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 2:00 pm "Even before the moratorium, the smallest proposed Albertson's was 29,000 sq ft with almost no other supporting retail. "
And what would have been wrong with that? Don't you think PA should have a decent sized grocery store--if it is a good store, people will come regardless--the supporting retail where Piazza's is located is not that great (insurance agents, pet store, dentist, coffee shop). Mollie Stones does not have any supporting retail at it's location.
[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
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Posted by Cele Horn, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 4:58 pm I lied about being in the Midtown. I am in the Moldaw. I suggest that this location be assigned a "location". There will be about 169 units here when all filled up. Single and two and three bedroom places that comprisse a "planned community" I sold my Eichler on Janice Way; I am still in 94303 and on good days I can walk back to Janice Way to visit old friends or walk to Piazza's or the Palo Alto Library.
So what "neighborhood" is this? Altaire is cheek to jowl with us and then comes Loral and the Kallilah Jewish High School and now the Pinewood School has built a gymnasium where Fabian turns into the West Bayshore. We are in 94303, just like I was before my short stay in San Jose. Three months was more than enough. Happy to be back, even though the Planning process is a nightmare.
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Posted by Alma, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 19, 2009 at 11:14 am I see that calling our one of our "neighborhood leaders" for her role in obstructing the development of Alma Plaza is frowned upon now as well. Too bad that the Weekly is supporting this revisionist history of the Alma Plaza story
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