Publication Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Another piece of the puzzle
Another piece of the puzzle
(March 31, 2004)
The future Campus for Jewish Life will occupy only eight of the 12 acres of the former Sun Microsystems site in south Palo Alto.
The future Campus for Jewish Life will occupy only eight of the 12 acres of the former Sun Microsystems site in south Palo Alto.
(March 31, 2004)The other four acres are being purchased by BRIDGE, a San Francisco-based housing non-profit.
BRIDGE plans to build 230 units of housing in three buildings, including 160 condominiums and 70 apartments for low-income seniors.
The housing will be affordable, especially by Palo Alto standards: "We're shooting for rents in the $400-$500 range," Lydia Tan of BRIDGE housing said, adding that the numbers aren't yet finalized.
The condominiums will likely sell in the mid-$400,000s to mid-$500,000s -- "starter units" for families, she said.
BRIDGE uses what Tan calls traditional affordable housing sources to fund its operations, including grants. It used internal resources to purchase its part of the Sun site.
Its financial partner in developing the housing is CalPERS (California Public Employee Retirement System), a state agency with deep-pockets. Pricing of the condos will depend in part on CalPERS getting a return on its investment, Tan said.
Groundbreaking for the BRIDGE housing is targeted for the fall of 2005, with completion 18 months later.
The BRIDGE project will be treated as a distinct project in the Palo Alto planning process, separate from the Campus for Jewish Life, which combines JCC facilities and 165 units of senior housing planned by the Jewish Home of San Francisco. But the parallel projects will be considered together during the city's environmental review.
Residents of the Jewish Home units will pay a substantial entry fee and monthly fees. The pricing of the units hasn't been determined yet, said Daniel Ruth of the Jewish Home.
The senior-housing component would include common rooms and themed lounges, with a restaurant-style eating area serving three meals a day. The complex will be wired for high-speed Internet access.
Ruth said the Jewish Home will hold a series of community meetings in Palo Alto to get some idea of what people want.
"We want to build what resonates in the community," he said.
--Don Kazak
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