A single-story retail building housing a Chipotle Mexican Grill near California Avenue could be torn down to make way for a 156-unit apartment complex, according to a development plan submitted to the City of Palo Alto. The proposal, filed by Bayspring Development Partners, would rise 85 feet at 2675 El Camino Real, just south of California Avenue and north of Page Mill Road.
The application, received by the city last week, was first reported by Palo Alto Online, which detailed how the developer wants to merge the El Camino Real parcel with an adjacent Sheridan Avenue lot to create an L-shaped site for a single integrated project. Bayspring argues that combining the properties would allow for more efficient development than building on each parcel separately, per the same report. The proposed complex would include ground-floor retail, 200 parking stalls, and a mix of 86 one-bedroom units, 43 two-bedroom units, and 27 studios, with housing concentrated on the top five floors above three stories of podium parking.
A Pedestrian Plaza and a Zoning Request
Beyond the apartments, the plan calls for a pedestrian plaza at Sheridan Avenue, a mid-block patio, and separate residential lobbies fronting both El Camino Real and Sheridan Avenue, according to the Palo Alto Online report. For the Sheridan Avenue portion of the site, Bayspring is requesting a Planned Home Zone designation, a tool that lets council members grant zoning exemptions to residential projects but also gives them discretion to reject proposals or demand revisions.
The Planned Home Zone process allows residential developers to seek zoning exemptions, with the city retaining discretion over them. The nearby Academy project at 3265 El Camino Real, a 55-unit complex built for local school staff that broke ground in February and was covered in earlier Hoodline reporting, used the same process.
Affordability Mix and the El Camino Real Height Limit
Under the current proposal, 15% of the complex's units would be set aside as affordable, including 16 units for households earning 50% or less of the area median income and 8 workforce housing units for households earning up to 120% of the area median income. The 85-foot height is permitted under the city's El Camino Real Focus Area rules, which raised allowable building heights for housing projects along the corridor.
The property at 2675 El Camino Real has 36 surface parking spaces, according to LoopNet. Vehicle traffic along that stretch of El Camino Real exceeds 35,900 vehicles per day, per data from JLL.
Part of a Broader Wave Along the Corridor
The Chipotle site proposal lands amid a run of large residential approvals along El Camino Real since Palo Alto established its new zoning district. The council unanimously approved a 183-unit, 85-foot apartment building from Vittoria Management at 3781 El Camino Real in May, a project Hoodline covered at the time. In April, the council voted 6-0 to approve a 321-unit building at 3606 El Camino Real despite objections from Barron Park neighbors over traffic exiting onto narrow side streets used as school routes.
Further north, the former Fish Market site at 3150 El Camino Real has an approved project from Acclaim Companies that broke ground this summer. Palo Alto's housing target is 6,086 units between 2023 and 2031.
The Sheridan Avenue proposal includes a Planned Home Zone request, which gives council members discretion over zoning exemptions.
