Mountain View Again Rejects Greystar Development Extension

Greystar Real Estate Partners’ long-running push to redevelop a J.P. Morgan Chase branch in Mountain View blew up at a tense city council meeting this week.

The South Carolina-based developer threatened to sue the City of Mountain View moments before officials voted on its $350 million plan calling for 299 apartments, ground-floor retail and a rebuilt Chase branch at 749 West El Camino Real, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported.

At the center of the debate was Greystar’s request to stretch its construction timeline from two years to eight, as well as other requests for financial credits for the project’s public benefits and to build a permanent loading zone along Victor Way.

The timeline extension was the biggest sticking point; officials approved the project plan and more than $1 million in credit toward community benefits and asked that the company work with city staff to designate a loading zone on Victor Way. But it denied the request for the eight-year timeline.

Greystar has worked five years on the project, and its attorney accused the city of “a lot of negative intent,”

“When the market and interest rates are funky, you just can’t finance a $350-million project on the drop of a hat, especially with an artificial deadline in front of you,” Tamsen Plume, an attorney for the developer, said at the meeting.

Greystar had asked for an extension several times prior Tuesday’s meeting, but the City turned down each one. City officials said Greystar didn’t provide evidence that extending the timeline by six years would cut down on the costs of building affordable apartments, instead saying it would actually increase costs.

“It took us four years as an applicant to get the project approved, and then you’re going to hold us to two years to break ground,” Dan Diebel, a representative for Greystar, said at the meeting. “It’s unreasonable. All we’re asking is for the city to be reasonable.”

The council also echoed staff concerns that the extension amounted to land banking, a practice that has earned a derided reputation in cities desperate for near-term housing production. The City of Mountain View must plan for 11,135 new housing units by 2031 as part of its state-mandated housing goals.

— Chris Malone Méndez