Resident appeal seeks to nix downtown Palo Alto development

Thanks to all who appeal these oversized buildings. The traffic and parking problems they create are destroying Palo Alto.

Too big? It fits within the zoning and therefore follows the city's rules and is therefore not too big. The discretionary review by council is out of control and not fair

I cringe whenever I hear a new office building, I think we have enough office buildings for a while now, we may need to revisit the issue in 10 years. Adding one or two residential units is a joke.

The language used by local architects is sometimes dishonest. Is this Hayes Group building "compatible" with its surroundings? No.
If the definition is "compatible with the financial profit," yes; but compatible with surrounding buildings, no.

Another dishonest manipulation of the language is the frequent use of "design enhancement" exception. Translation into architectize: make it bigger. Not more interesting, not more creative, just bigger, more profitable.

I'm sure there are honest architects around, but they aren't very visible in these office projects.

Why does this particular architectural firm have such monopoly on new buildings in Palo Alto? Might as well drop the name Palo Alto and name the town after themselves. They seem to be everywhere now and the outcome, in my opinion, is quite tragic, if I may say so. There is absolutely no grace whatsoever in the design of these buildings. I have to to look away whenever I pass one which is all too frequent these days. They seem too angular, out of scale and massive, completely dismissive of their surroundings; and, yes, a building like this and its construction would impoverish a historic district, obviously. We hear talk of innovation, creativity and spirit in this town. Hello? This all seems like business as usual to me. I support the appeal.

Glad residents are raising objections to this latest Hayes Group monstrosity. I live across the street from 636 Waverley. It is a "smaller" Hayes Group project, i.e. occupies only one lot, but it's outsize for the block (between Forest and Hamilton -- take a look, especially the massing relative to the rest of the street and the nonexistent setbacks) at 50 feet high. In the THREE years since construction began, life on the block has been constantly disrupted by huge concrete machines, digging, cranes, and plenty of hammering, all day long, including Saturdays. It's still a hideous, gigantic, tarpaper-covered shell with brutalist dark grey concrete walls. Obviously this thing will never be finished in time to meet the city's construction deadline and I'm sure the owner and Hayes have decided a $250g late penalty is trivial compared to the money they'll make by selling four luxury condos (it was supposed to be mixed use, but the owner changed his mind in midstream).

We need an end to outsize buildings, an end to 'penalties' that are meaningless given the disruption they cause the neighbors, and an end to the kind of nonsense that equates a giant soulless box with the character of Palo Alto. Please watch for when this comes up on appeal (after ARB's vacation, it seems), go to the meeting(s), pass the word to your neighbors,and raise hell. This neighborhood is ours, not the developers'.

"Why does this particular architectural firm have such monopoly on new buildings in Palo Alto?"

Talent costs money. Hayes works cheap. Why would a group of investors pay more for a building they will seldom, if ever, see?

Last night at the City Council (Kniss, Wohlbach, Burt) asked for a hearing to convert 100 Addison Ave (Addison Antiques site) zoning to Office.

Thank you, council members Kniss, Wohlbach and Burt for continuing to support more and more and more office construction.
Can we also expect you will approve reduced parking, because it is near the train, as you have done so often?
It is helpful to know who has gotten us into this mess, and who continues to work for the moneyed developers, not for the residents of this town.

Development downtown strengthens our retail core and reduces traffic by putting more housing near transit and jobs. This makes me so sad.

I live in this neighborhood and SUPPORT this projects and others like it. When will we all wake up and stop being so selfish, our progressive, green, Palo-Alto-awesomeness is at stake - which is the whole reason I live here! It is a tiny project that will clean up the area, for Pete's sake go volunteer. Our residents sound like spoiled selfish kids. Have some vision!

"Development downtown strengthens our retail core and reduces traffic by putting more housing near transit and jobs."

What housing? This project is fronted as a "mixed use" development with some housing, which makes for easier approval in city hall. But no official will ever check whether the housing part has people living it or has somehow morphed into premium executive office suites.

'I live in this neighborhood and SUPPORT this projects and others like it. When will we all wake up and stop being so selfish, our progressive, green, Palo-Alto-awesomeness is at stake - which is the whole reason I live here! It is a tiny project that will clean up the area, for Pete's sake go volunteer. Our residents sound like spoiled selfish kids. Have some vision!'

I wake up every morning to the sound of construction. It's been that way for THREE years. May I suggest that you try doing the same? There will be no quote, AWESOMENESS in Palo Alto until there's an end to the construction of these lifeless monstrosities that house only the rich and enrich only the investors and developers. What kind of town do you want to leave your kids? Do a little research (as a volunteer, which is what we are) and come help us fight for our community.