Special to the Town Crier
After a year in legal limbo created by lawsuits and bankruptcy, new owners have begun construction on the Tree Farm project on El Camino Real in Los Altos.
Bulldozers are in the second week of excavation for the two-level underground parking for the three-story office building that will face El Camino Real; the Los Altos City Council OK'd a delay in the construction of the eight below-market rate condos to coincide with the hotel instead of the office building; and the new owners, San Mateo-based Sand Hill Property Company, held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday.
"It's refreshing to get going again on this project," said Councilwoman Kris Casto at the Nov. 9 council meeting.
"We all want this project to go forward," said Councilman Francis La Poll.
The project for the 4.5-acre site, which has been on the drawing board for several years, includes the office building, a 130-room residence hotel and eight below-market rate condos.
But to go forward beyond an excavation permit, the owners need financing for the office and told the council they could not get it with construction of the BMR condos tied to occupancy of the office.
The council agreed to detach the requirement of building the condos from the office and attach it to the hotel portion of the project instead.
The previous owners were granted a variance, adding a third story to the 95,000-square-foot office, in return for including eight below-market rate condos with the project. City staff and council members want to insure that the condos will be built.
To guarantee this, the council voted Nov. 9 to grant the city assignable development rights to construct the affordable housing if the hotel/BMR portion of the project is not "substantially" completed within one year of occupancy of the office.
The council is requiring that a $1 million performance bond be provided to complete the eight two-bedroom BMR condos at the time a building permit is issued for the office.
The council is also requiring a 10 percent cash deposit performance bond for the city to use on legal expenses if any are incurred regarding payment of the non-performance bond.
"Our intention is to build them all (office, BMRs, hotel)," said Peter Pau, owner of San Hill Property. But his company "cannot do everything at once because the site is tight, and we need a staging area."
He told the council it is almost impossible "to get financing with the BMRs tied to the office."
He said he has a tenant for the entire office building, Rambus, a 10-year-old Mountain View Company. Pau is anxious to move the Tree Farm project along because the current lease for Rambus expires in a year, he said.
Pau introduced his company at the Nov. 9 council meeting with a slide presentation narrated by John Tze, also with Sand Hill.
The company was formed in 1987 and does real estate development. It has completed or is working on four major mixed-used projects, including Cupertino Village in Cupertino, a 22-acre site that includes retail, a hotel and 200 luxury apartments, Tze said.
Pau said his company took projects from "eyesore to prosperity. We came in. We got it done."