Good-by to another arrogant Master of the Universe.

This is a good first step in taking back our downtown from over development.

Now is the chance to rezone all those office buildings downtown for apartment buildings

good riddance

Best news I’ve heard all day!

Yes, replace their buildings with housing.

Residrntialists: Time to step up and start saying YES to something. Show us that NO is not the only word in your vocabulary.

Palantir now has more than 2,500 employees worldwide.

I look forward to some of the buildings Palantir vacates becoming retail. That would be nice.

Retail?? Instead of offices??? You mean we'd have a reason to go downtown again?? Alert the Chamber of Commerce. And those candidates who are STILL pushing for more offices and commuters while ignoring residents.

I think this is a very good time to take a step back before committing to any new housing or developments. The consequences of Covid and over taxation in California may take a huge toll on business here and life as we know it. The exodus from California of businesses and residents may leave us with profound longterm consequences. Already employees are starting to work more from home, and that may put them out of our high cost area or even our state. Exiting businesses will also have that effect. Let’s not build a lot of housing for employees who won’t work for departed businesses. I look forward to the return of downtown retail.

Best news I've heard in a while.

Palantir has offices downtown in spaces that were previously retail. These should revert back to resident-serving retail.

Generally, I agree that vacated office buildings should be converted to housing, but don't forget retail and other community-based services (therapists, etc.)

As a downtown resident, I would love to get my needs met within walking distance, but there are fewer and fewer businesses that cater to everyday people.

Or park space. Some cities have nice little parks interspersed among other buildings.

abitarian,

Do you realize that Palo Alto was way over stored (with retail and restaurants) even prior to COVID? Adding more retail will just make for more suffering among the retail that remains after COVID. Much retail will never come back.

In any case, most Palantir employees are in mid-rise office buildings, not in former store fronts. The number of Palantir employees won't drop dramatically initially but the gradual reduction in demand for office space will make housing more economically feasible.

Let’s hear from the PAF folks about how this will affect their organization and goals. Many of the more business friendly candidates for CC a few years ago were Palantir friendly and PAF members.

Not sorry to see reduction of Palantir - HQ may have moved, but there still is “an office” in Palo Alto, according to what I read in the Post. That’s ok.....
I vastly prefer retail to actually be retail, not crammed office spaces filled with big desks where programmers plug in cheek to jowl....(however luxury the location).
SW should generally be located with Big Tech up on Page Mill Blvd in Stanford Industrial Park. Right?
The character of downtown Palo Alto needs some rejuvenation. Services and retail (but, please, no emphasis on nail salons, hair salons, snobby “gyms.”)
Oh, for some past successes to return - it’s hard tomrecall, but....establishments like Borders Books, PA Sport and Toy, the framing place that is now on El Camino Real in Redwood City (not a location to stroll by!) I faintly remember that gift shop (Hamilton) and a jewelry store (Emerson by the underground garage). And no, I’m not elderly. Just supplying a few quick examples that come to mind of pleasant retail that couldn’t afford to stay or whose building was re-developed, etc. Services are good, too...
I like walkable, friendly downtowns with an array of retail. Avoidance of angry, biased political statements would also help.

More retail? Seriously? Retail will never be what it was. The most you could hope for would be restaurants. Whoops, who's getting into that business? Gyms, flower shops, residential in small one story open buildings? Pretty much all of these commentors need a reality check.

"Let’s hear from the PAF folks about how this will affect their organization and goals. Many of the more business friendly candidates for CC a few years ago were Palantir friendly and PAF members."

Maybe PAF folks-- and their Chamber of Commerce and YIMBY buddies -- could start banning company cafeterias like Palantir's instead of pretending to care about the poor restaurants during the pandemic NOW that all those workers are working at home and proposing to charge US a dining surcharge. The restaurants and their staff restaurants will tell you how badly they were hurt by all those Palantir employees eating in-house while parking downtown long before Covid.

Remember it's the PAF/Palantir folks who sit/sat on the MTC board who decided we should also pay commuters to commuting expenses.

As always, watch who's funding whom.