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Published on 04/21/1999 All articles from this issue

Skyview project go-ahead raises Los Altos concerns

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By Ellen Murray

Special to the Town Crier

The controversial Skyview luxury tower residential complex won final approval from the Mountain View City Council last month. Reactions ranged from elation from developer AvalonBay Communities, to concerns about over crowding in nearby Almond School in Los Altos, to mixed emotions about traffic, congestion, and density.

The tallest residential structure in Mountain View, Skyview's 211-unit, 11-story twin towers will punctuate the skyline on 4.4 acres near the corner of Ortega Avenue and El Camino Real by mid-2001.

Mountain View City Council members voted 6-1 to approve the project at their March 16 meeting.

Eric Morely of the real estate consulting firm Morely Hunter Group Inc. helped to guide the project through a 10-month-long planning process.

The complex will be part of a mixed-use development including the 132-unit Domizile condominiums and another 105,000- square-foot office building currently under construction.

"I have mixed feelings about further density in this area, but why single out this complex specifically?" said Claudia Davis, a resident of the nearby Birch Green town house development on Ortega Avenue. "Luxury apartments increase my property value."

Steve Olson, who lives on Jordan Avenue in Los Altos, will see the development in plain view from his street. But his two main concerns are traffic and schools impacts, specifically Jordan and Portola avenues.

"Basically, the only thing they can do (for traffic) is to use enforcement," Olson said. He prefers speed bumps to address cut-through traffic. As for schools, Olson was concerned about overcrowding. "Almond already has a lot of people going to it," he said.

The units will range in size from 850 to 2,000 square feet - large enough to accommodate families with school-age children.But AvalonBay regional vice president Dan Murphy said, "This kind of luxury facility will serve the people whose kids have left home."

Murphy also said that the new Caltrain station at San Antonio Road and the light rail project terminus at Castro Street will lessen the traffic impact.