Entitled as the lead project in the upzoned San Antonio Road housing corridor, our project proposes 102 market-rate rental units with a ground level retail use. The structure will be 4 floors of Type V-A construction above grade, with maximum heights below the allowable 50-foot limit and two levels of Type I-A construction below grade parking.
The 102 units consist of (4) 2-bedroom/2 bath units, (66) 1-bedroom units and (32) studios. As required by the city, 15% of these (16 units) will be designated for below-market rate qualified users.
The building will provide 108 indoor long-term bike parking spaces adjacent to the ground floor main lobby and the property will also accommodate 18 guest and short-term bike spaces.
Retained by Stanford University to design off campus faculty housing in a quaint Palo Alto neighborhood named, appropriately, “College Terrace”, our charge was to design homes for sale with more of a “custom” feel than your average spec home. To keep costs down, we developed prototype 2 story and 1 story plans for the relatively narrow lots Stanford had acquired, then created 6 unique exterior designs, one for each parcel.
With a mix of 3 contemporary and 3 traditional designs, S-Squared provided not only architecture, but also interior and landscape design for each of the properties. Compared to similar homes in the same price range offered to Stanford faculty, the S-Squared designs sold quickly.
After several failed attempts by other development teams to develop this ~3 acre site in Palo Alto’s Barron Park with higher-density mid-rise and attached housing proposals, S-Squared was retained to design 16 detached single family homes on small lots ranging from 4,800 to 6,100 s.f.
Utilizing a mix of transitional, contemporary, Mediterranean, and Craftsman exteriors across a total of 5 unique floor plans, S-Squared provided architectural services to entitle the project through Palo Alto’s Architectural Review board (ARB) process. Each home features 5BR/6BA over 3 levels including full basement, with single car attached garage and >4,000 s.f. living area.
Despite COVID-19 looming in the background, the new homes came online in phases starting in Spring 2020, and were sold out completely by 2021.
Wishing to honor the legacy of his immigrant father while positioning the family property for the next generation, our client worked with S-Squared to redevelop the 1950’s Charles Motel into a contemporary 4 story, 51 room hotel with valet-parking garage.
Sitting snugly on its one-third acre site, the hotel presents a welcoming front facade, with integrated porte-cochere and driveway ramp to the fully underground garage. A spacious guest lobby leads to fitness, dining, and retail amenities on the ground floor. Service/utility spaces, administration rooms, and a handful of units comprise the ground floor.
Following the lead of his good friend and fellow 2nd generation motelier, our Santa Cruz-based client retained S-Squared to spearhead a redevelopment of his rapidly deteriorating 1950’s 12 room motor court motel into a contemporary 4 story, 52 room hotel with underground self-parking garage, 2 blocks from the Boardwalk.
Approved unanimously by the Planning Commission without appeal or neighborhood opposition, the exterior was designed to comply with the local design district, which mandates either Spanish or Victorian architecture.
