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San Francisco

Oxford Capital submits builder’s remedy project in Palo Alto

Apartments, townhomes and a hotel would total to 326 units

Oxford Capital's John Rutledge with 3400 El Camino Real
Oxford Capital's John Rutledge with 3400 El Camino Real (Oxford Capital Group, Google Maps, Getty)

Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group is filing a builder’s remedy application for a three-building project in Palo Alto, according to SF YIMBY. The building will house 326 residential and hospitality units. 

The project is located at 3400 El Camino Real, and will feature 189 homes and 137 hotel rooms. The building will total 350,000 square feet, with 183,000 square feet for housing and 110,000 square feet from the new hotel. The remaining square footage space is yet to be determined. 

The apartments will include 27 studios, 79 one-bedrooms, 75 two-bedrooms, and four three-bedrooms. There will also be four townhome units, and 38 of the units will be designated affordable or low income housing.

The provision within the 1990s Housing Accountability Act allows developers automatic approval of their projects in cities that don’t have a housing plan, formally called a housing element, with the state. But to qualify, a project must designate at least 20 percent of its units for affordable housing or 100 percent for moderate income housing.  

Oxford has unsuccessfully proposed previous plans for the site, and now have harnessed builder’s remedy to streamline the approval process.

“The City Council has considered several pre-screening applications and almost none of them have moved forward,” Chelsea Maclean and Genna Yarkin, attorneys for Holland & Knight, said in a statement. “The Builder’s Remedy tool allows this thoughtful project to proceed, and we look forward to working further with city officials to promptly advance the consideration of the project in a manner consistent with state law.”

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Oxford’s proposal isn’t the first builder’s remedy application in Palo Alto. Juno Realty Partners filed for 350 units in a 500,000-square-foot building on Fabian Way. Locally-based Peninsula Land & Capital also has filed a builder’s remedy application for 45 condominiums, with nine designated as affordable. 

Unlike a lot of other Bay Area cities that are challenging the legitimacy of builder’s remedy, Palo Alto has conceded it is subject to the penalty. 

“Until the city has adopted a new Housing Element compliant with state law, it cannot deny certain qualifying housing projects regardless of their non-compliance with zoning standards or the comprehensive plan,” the city said in a statement regarding the condo project.

So far this year, at least 34 builder’s remedy projects totaling more than 6,400 units have been proposed across 11 local cities and counties according to a Bay Area News Group survey. Many of the proposals target affluent areas that have long resisted large housing projects.

When the state passed the “builder’s remedy” rule three decades ago, it was envisioned as a “nuclear option” to spur cities to follow through on their housing responsibilities, said Matt Regan, a housing policy expert with the Bay Area Council.

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Builder’s RemedyDevelopment