Publication Date: Friday, February 20, 2004
COMMUNITY
Final piece of the puzzle?
Final piece of the puzzle?
(February 20, 2004) City approves medical foundation building, garage
by Don Kazak
At the Palo Alto Medical Foundation business is up and its patient base is rapidly expanding. To need the demand the medical foundation will take an important step toward expanding its campus.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a 41,000-square-foot outpatient building and a four-story parking garage over the objections of a neighboring property owner who claimed the parking plan is inadequate. Vic Ojakian was absent and LaDoris Cordell recused herself, because she is on the board of directors of the Community Working Group, which is building the Opportunity Center nearby.
This will be the fourth building on the campus located between Embarcadero Road and University Avenue -- a building first envisioned when plans were submitted to the city in 1996.
The medical foundation built its new campus to answer a demand for more clinic space. Patient visits at the clinic have increased from 584,000 in 1992 to 800,000 in 2002.
"We expect our patient population to nearly double in the next 10 years," said Jill Antonides, director of public affairs at the medical foundation.
"This is the next iteration of what was a master plan," said Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg. "This is the type of service our aging population needs."
Past concerns about the final addition to the medical foundation campus were over parking and the threat of drivers using the nearby Town & Country Shopping Center to avoid congestion at the Embarcadero Road/El Camino Real intersection.
City planning staff, the Planning and Transportation Commission and now the City Council are convinced that the campus will have adequate parking, especially with the new, four-level parking garage.
That didn't stop council members, however, from informally requesting the medical foundation do everything it can to get more employees into carpools and onto public transit.
David Jury, representing the medical foundation, replied, "We're certainly willing to give it a try."
Despite such concerns, the council complimented the plan.
"The Palo Alto Medical Foundation did a beautiful job of designing the campus, especially with the (Homer) tunnel coming up," said Councilwoman Yoriko Kishimoto. "This is a dream place to have a high density (use)."
"Changing that area has been a boon to our community," said Councilman Jack Morton. He said that patients and staff from the clinic may also help revitalize Town & Country Shopping Center.
Jury said construction on the project will probably start sometime this fall, with the parking garage first in line first for development.
Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com
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