August 31, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Proposed building project steeped in history

by Jocelyn Dong

Just as construction of the city's largest residential development in years edges toward completion in the South of Forest Avenue area, a plan to develop another city block in the same neighborhood is taking off.

Or, it could be said, it's taking off again.

The project aims to redo the stretch of Homer Avenue between Bryant and Ramona streets into a three-story, 44,500-square-foot office, retail and residential complex with underground parking.

Not only that, but two historic structures on the block -- the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the French Laundry -- would be rehabilitated in the process.

Four years ago, a very similar proposal made it through a lengthy city review process and gained City Council approval, despite protests from some residents. But the project was never built.

Unfortunately for the property owner, Menlo Equities, the market had tanked by then and office buildings appeared to be a losing proposition. More bad news for the firm: City building permits don't tend to outlast economic doldrums.

Now with the economy picking up slightly, Menlo Equities is coming back before the city for permission to build. On Thursday morning, the Architectural Review Board and the Historic Resources Board will hold a joint meeting to consider the revived project.

For years the structural integrity, if not the fates, of both the AME Zion Church on Ramona and the French Laundry on Homer have been in question. Ten years ago, Chief Building Official Fred Herman said even a moderate earthquake could cause the church, built in 1925, to collapse. The church roof had holes, the stucco was crumbling and cracks in the foundation and base walls were beginning to make them buckle.

The church has a notable history, however, which has made it eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Not only was it the first African-American church in Palo Alto, it was the first black church established between San Francisco and San Jose. During the Great Depression, the church faced mortgage foreclosure, but local congregations of white and Asian parishioners banded together and raised enough money to save it.

A noted local historian called the incident one of the city's brightest brotherhood-in-action episodes, according to a previous Weekly article.

The French Laundry, built in 1931, was one of several laundry businesses in the area and representative of a booming industry back in the days when homes did not have mechanical washers or dryers.

It later became known as the Cardinal Laundry.

Today, both buildings sit behind green construction fencing, awaiting rehabilitation. Because of their historic value, their restoration will have to be done according to federal Secretary of the Interior standards for historic buildings.

The French Laundry would be removed in pieces and restored off site, according to Jane Vaughan, a Menlo Equities partner. A two-level underground would be dug underneath it, and when the building is returned, its old walls would hang on a new structure.

The AME Zion Church would be jacked up as the garage is constructed underneath.

"Member by member it will be restored -- what can be restored," Vaughan said, noting termites have damaged part of the building. A triangular stained-glass window is one of the building's more notable features.

Perhaps the most unusual aspect about the project is that both historic buildings would be incorporated into the new complex as functioning spaces. The 1,200-square-foot laundry building would be used for retail, Vaughan said, and the church as office space.

In addition to office and retail, four residential units would be built on the project's third floor.

Vaughan said the plan proposes four different architectural styles: the church's, the laundry's, a traditional architecture of terracotta tile and stucco at Bryant and Homer, and a more contemporary façade of natural stone at Ramona and Homer.

"The city doesn't like if you have the same design on the entire block," Vaughan said.

It's difficult to tell whether the resurrected project will run into the same opposition from residents that it did in 2001, when neighbor David Bubenik appealed the approval to the City Council. He alleged that the office project violated a policy that had been hammered out among neighbors, other stakeholders and the city, known as the SoFA (South of Forest Avenue) Policy Framework. That agreement, he said, planned for high-density housing, not office space, to be located on the land.

He also complained that, among other issues, the scale and massing of the project was out of character with the existing residential neighborhood, another policy guideline that had been agreed upon with neighbors.

When Bubenik appeared before the council in December 2001 to make his plea, he'd gathered the signatures of 62 other residents who supported his position. But the council voted 8-1 to deny the appeal.

"The building is going to be a monument to the city's breach of faith," Bubenik said last week of the new plan. "You know in the gospels how the money changers were chased out of the temple? They're back."

He plans to attend as many of the city meetings regarding the project as he can, and indicated that members of Palo Alto Stanford Heritage, a local preservation group of which he is the president, will send a representative.

When other neighbors were asked about the project, however, few were aware of it and none had an opinion.

Although the previous project received city approval, that authorization is not binding on the current project, according to city staff. If the ARB and HRB were to recommend the project move forward, the Director of Planning and Community Environment would make the official endorsement. It would need no consent from any other city board, unless the case were appealed to the council.

If approved, the construction could take two years, Vaughan said.

A companion project across the street from the church, at 820 Ramona, will also be reviewed Thursday. Menlo Equities owns that property as well and plans a three-story 10,500 square foot office/residential complex.

Council candidate Skip Justman happens to live next door to that project, and said he is in favor of the development.

"It'll help finish off the whole (SoFA) project," he said, noting that the renderings have convince him the building would be "a nice transition" between his house and the commercial building on the corner at Homer and Ramona.

Reminded that his family would have to endure more noise and inconvenience from the new construction, Justman shrugged.

"We've lived through the Oak Court construction (on Ramona), we can survive this one," Justman said.

Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

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