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A judo school that burned down in a massive Los Altos fire on Christmas Day in 2023 is hoping to get a new lease on life on California Avenue in Palo Alto.
Tamayo Judo, a business owned by former Stanford University judo instructor Raul Tamayo, is looking to reopen at 290 California Ave., a building near Birch Avenue that once housed the photography business Keeble and Shuchat and that is currently occupied by the game store Gamelandia.
Provided the school gets the city’s approval for a conditional use permit, the judo school would move into Suite B of the building, which it would share with Gamelandia.
Tamayo told this publication that he has been looking for a new location for his school ever since the fire, which occurred on Christmas Day in 2023 and which destroyed a shopping plaza on the 4600 block of El Camino Real. He has considered other locations in Los Altos and Mountain View but deemed them either too small, too expensive or incompatible with his business because of zoning designations.
He said he was approached by a family member of Terry Shuchat, who owns the building, about leasing space in the California Avenue building. It seemed like a great fit, he said.
“I spoke with a lot of business owners and they mentioned how the pandemic really killed California Avenue, but then it’s starting to feel like it’s picking up again,” Tamayo said. “By closing off the street (to cars), it allows people to hang out again and there’s a lot of foot traffic, which is important for my type of business.”
If approved, the judo school will become the latest in a string of California Avenue businesses that specialize in health and fitness. Directly across Birch Avenue is Performance Gaines, a gym that is about to make way for a larger gym, Palo Alto Fit, which is relocating to California Avenue from Portage Avenue. The new Palo Alto Fit will take over both the Performance Gaines space and the building next door that was formerly occupied by Printers Café, Moods Wine Bar and Gallery House.
Directly across California Avenue is Pure Barre, a studio that offers barre classes. A bit east of Pure Barre is Nito Boxing, a recently opened boxing gym.
Tamayo said his school will offer private lessons and group lessons for different age and skill levels. He will also have a small retail section where he will be selling uniforms, T-shirts and other merchandise relating to martial arts.
He said he believes the proximity of his judo school to the other gyms and studios in the area will benefit everyone. Even though they are all committed to health and fitness, each business has a distinct role. Some of his judo students may be interested in getting extra workout at the new gym, he said. Conversely, people who work out at the gym may take an interest in learning judo and patronize his business.
Tamayo hopes the California Avenue business will allow him to resume what he started in Los Altos, where he ran his judo school for 14 months before it burned down. He said he had initially launched his school in Sunnyvale and operated it for three years before relocating to Los Altos.
Prior to that, Tamayo had worked as head coach of the judo program at Stanford University for 27 years. The program was shut down during the pandemic, he said.
He wrote in a letter to the city that the loss of his school has been “devastating, not only for me personally but also for the community that it served.”
“Over the years, my school has had a profound impact on the lives of many children, fostering confidence, discipline, self-esteem, and overall personal growth among its participants,” Tamayo wrote.
Terry Shuchat also submitted a letter in support of Tamayo Judo and urged the city to approve the needed conditional use permit so that the school can begin its operations on California Avenue as soon as possible.
“As we know, new retail is not opening in great numbers in the area and that is especially true for California Ave.,” Shuchat wrote. “The last business to open was Victoria Ballet Studio over a year ago. Vacancies are also increasing on California Ave. with long-time tenant Printer’s Inc. and Mood’s Wine Bar the latest to vacate.
“California Ave. simply needs more businesses to support the entire Cal Ave ecosystem,” Shuchat wrote.