An ambitious proposal to build a five-story building featuring a glassy tower, offices, apartments and a coffee shop at one of downtown Palo Alto's most prominent corners took a major stride toward winning the city's approval Wednesday night, Feb. 22, when the Planning and Transportation Commission agreed to rezone the site to make the project possible.

It took four public hearings and a long debate over "public benefits" before the project at 355 Alma St. could gain the endorsement of the commission, which voted 5-2, with Susan Fineberg and Greg Tanaka dissenting to rezone the site. Because the project's density far exceeds the site's zoning, the applicants requested a change to a "planned community" zone -- a designation that allows developers to build beyond the city's restrictions in exchange for public benefits.

The planning commission had previously endorsed the appearance and the concept of the new building, which the city's Architectural Review Board had also approved. But at the Jan. 22 hearing, commissioners argued that the applicants have to provide more benefits to justify the increased intensity. The applicants returned this week with an expanded proposal, one that would provide more public parking, more units of affordable housing and a pledge to help the city fund a downtown parking study and a landscape improvements. The proposal includes 14 units of housing, seven of which would be below market rate, ground-floor retail and offices on the floors one through four.

The "Lytton Gateway" project, proposed by Lund Smith, Boyd Smith, Jim Baer and Scott Foster, represents in many ways the city's drive to encourage dense developments near major transit centers -- a key tenet of New Urbanism. The proposed building would stand at the intersection of Alma and Lytton Avenue, right across the street from the downtown Caltrain station. Without the zoning change, the development would have been limited to a two-story office building.

At a previous hearing, commissioners said they were concerned about the insufficient number of parking spaces proposed by the applicants. Several residents from the Downtown North neighborhood near the site urged the commission Wednesday not to green-light the project unless it provides more parking spaces. Among them was Sally-Ann Rudd, president of the Downtown North Residents Association. Rudd said she was concerned about the prospect of Lytton Gateway employees taking over the parking spaces in her residential neighborhood.

"We're already parked up during the day from a mixture of Caltrain commuters and downtown employees," Rudd said. "This has been a subject of some irritation from the residents."

To address the community's and the commission's concerns, the applicants agreed to provide eight surface parking spots and 14 underground-parking spots to the public in addition to the 123 spots they had previously said the project would include. The applicants also agreed to pay $60,000 to help the city fund a downtown parking study and to launch a full-service attendant-parking program that would add another 34 spots to the building.

"We truly believe this is the wave of the future for downtown parking," Lund Smith told the commission, referring to the attendant-parking program.

MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing fixed mortgage rates moving off their at- or-near record lows for the first time in three weeks amid recent data showing the housing market continues to improve. 

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.95 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending February 23, 2012, up from last week when it also averaged 3.87 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.95 percent. 
• 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.19 percent with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it also averaged 3.16 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.22 percent. 
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.80 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.82 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.80 percent.

The historic post office in downtown Palo Alto may become the next victim of the Postal Service’s financial problems.

Representatives of USPS told City Council Tuesday night that the 20,300 sq. ft. building on Hamilton Avenue is too big, too costly, and too valuable to remain in their hands.

The crux of the problem, said USPS Spokesperson James Wigdel, is the precipitous decline in first class mail volume afflicting the government agency.

213 billion pieces of mail were processed in 2011, he said, a number expected to drop to as low as 118 billion pieces annually by 2020. There has been a 25 percent drop in first class mail in the last five years.

“First class mail is simply going away, and first class mail is our bread and butter,” said Wigdel.

Revenues have consequently been dropping as well, he said. USPS pulled in $65.7 billion in 2011, down from $67.1 billion the previous year.

As such, the entire organization is under a mandate to streamline operations, in part by selling off or downsizing offices housed in valuable or large buildings.

“By relocating in to what we consider to be a right-size space, we would have an annual savings of over $100,000 a year,” said Diana Alvarado, a representative from the USPS Pacific Facilities Service Office.

Alvarado said staying on Hamilton would be a priority, and that any change to the current office is contingent upon finding an acceptable buyer for the property as well as a suitable new location—ideally around 3,500 sq. ft. in size.

Selling off property is nothing new for the Postal Service. The agency maintains a website of available properties, and has seen new occupants use their buildings for anything from bed-and-breakfast hotels to law offices and financial services companies.

Regardless of the outcome, mail delivery will not be affected, and existing post office box customers will keep their same box numbers at the new potential location.

Council members were skeptical of any plan to relocate, citing the high cost of commercial real estate downtown.

“Good luck in finding reasonably priced commercial property in Downtown Palo Alto,” said Council Member Pat Burt. He asked if USPS might simply consider downsizing.

“Why wouldn’t that be your first choice?” he said.

“It is a choice,” responded Alvarado.

Public speakers were generally relieved that the Postal Service was not planning to simply up and disappear, as many had feared.

“I am somewhat reassured in learning that the post office is interested in relocation,” said Priscilla Bates. “I think we do need a post office location downtown. I come down very frequently myself, and it’s easy to go to the post office while I’m doing a number of other errands. To me it’s an ideal location for the post office, and I don’t want it to move anywhere else.”

Just weeks after announcing nearly $2 million in seed funding, GetHired.com has opened its doors on University Avenue with a team of 14.

Palo Alto Mayor Yiaway Yeh joined Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Wright and Downtown Business and Professional Association Executive Director Russ Cohen in welcome GetHired CEO Suki Shah and his team at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon.

“Palo Alto is an incubator of leading growth companies,” said Suki Shah, co-founder and CEO at GetHired.com. “We’re honored to launch in the same office that Intuit started out in – and in the same town that Facebook, Google, Sun Microsystems and PayPal got their start. These companies have been game-changers in their respective industries, and I am confident that GetHired.com will make a significant mark, as well.”

Wright said GetHired.com will be a great platform for job-seekers and companies alike, due to their ability to marry the services used by both parties into one service.

“I think it’s an excellent fit,” he said. “If you think about the technology businesses that are in this space, they’re perfect for serving that market.”

GetHired is a video-based social recruiting platform that allows employers to, in addition to simply posting jobs, also ask video and audio pre-screening questions that allow applicants to offer more detail than a simple resume offers. The service also includes an applicant tracking system for employers to manage candidates and onboarding. And, it’s free.

“We help bring the cost down from tens of thousands of dollars for an employer down to nothing,” said Shah.

Mayor Yeh said that GetHired will bring new energy to Downtown, as evidenced by the house music bumping in the office.

“You bring the vibrancy to our downtown,” he said. “You bring a lot of energy. The music was not staid, not very plain when we walked into your office today. There was a very clear beat. And that reflects a lot of the energy that you bring.”

Russ Cohen, who presented Shah with a “Downtown Crown” award, said GetHired’s decision to come to Palo Alto is emblematic of many companies who realize the value of capitalizing on the city’s talent pool and capital resources.

“GetHired has recognized—like many other companies have recognized—the power of being in Downtown Palo Alto,” he said. “They know that they can find talent just by walking out in the street and going to lunch.”

Palo Alto's iconic downtown post office, a fixture on Hamilton Avenue for the past 80 years, will hit the real-estate market by the U.S. Postal Service in May, according to a new report from the city.

As the Palo Alto Weekly first reported in December, the U.S. Postal Service is looking to sell the Birge Clark-designed building at 380 Hamilton Ave. as part of its plan to cut costs and adjust to changing consumer behavior. Representatives from the cash-strapped agency will host a public hearing on the sale at Tuesday night's, Feb. 21, City Council meeting.

But even as it plans to sell the building, the U.S. Postal Service says it's committed to keeping a post office downtown. In the report Steven Turner, Palo Alto's advanced planning manager, notes that the agency has expressed a preference to retain between 3,000 and 3,500 square feet in the existing building.

Another alternative is moving to another location in or near downtown Palo Alto. Diana Alvarado, the agency's property manager, wrote in a Dec. 26 letter to the city that the postal service is looking for a smaller building within the city limits of Palo Alto. It would "house retail services within the 94301 ZIP Code area."

Alvarado attributed the decision to "right size" the downtown operation to economic and consumer trends. The agency is also looking to close more than a thousand post offices across the nation.

"Despite significant cost reductions, the Postal Services continues to experience a net loss," Alvarado wrote. "Economic drivers that generate mail volume continue to reflect the sluggish economy, and changes in customer behavior indicate the ongoing migration of electronic communications."

The Tuesday meeting will be followed by a 15-day comment period to gather input from residents. Turner wrote in the new report that "staff expects USPS to put the site up for sale on a competitive basis on or after May 15, 2012.

While the building's location near City Hall and the business-heavy downtown area should make it an attractive location for office developments, Palo Alto officials are also considering the site for public uses. At the council's Jan. 21 strategic retreat, Councilman Larry Klein asked staff to consider the possibility of using the 20,000-square-foot facility for the city's new public-safety building. Councilman Pat Burt had earlier proposed the idea of purchasing the building and turning it into the Development Center. The city currently leases space across the street from City Hall for its permitting operation.

The site's zoning designation should work in the city's advantage. The site is zoned "Public Facilities," which means permitted uses are limited to "government, public utility, educational, community service or recreational facilities." According to a fact sheet released by the city this week, the site can also accommodate "conditional uses" such as administrative offices for nonprofit organizations, recreational uses and day care centers.

The building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which greatly limits a potential developers' ability to make major modifications. According to Turner's report, Alvarado indicated to staff that because of the building's historic status it would not be demolished.

The downtown post office is believed to be the first in the nation to be designed and built specifically for post-office use. A prominent local example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, it features arcades, a stucco exterior and a red-tiled roof.

Postal Service spokesman James Wigdel had previously told the Weekly that he expects the sale of the building to take several months. In a statement earlier this month, Wigdel stressed that the Hamilton station "is not closing or being discontinued, it is simply relocating to another space that will represent a right-sizing to current standards of space and operations."

"All operations from the existing Hamilton Station, including P.O. Boxes, will be housed in the replacement facility," the statement said.

MCLEAN, Va., Feb 16, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates unchanged amid mixed consumer sentiment data. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been at its all-time record-breaking low of 3.87 percent since the first week of February, below 4.00 percent for the past 11 weeks, and below 5.00 percent for the past 52 weeks dating back to the February 17, 2011 release of the PMMS.

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.87 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending February 16, 2012, matching last week when it also averaged 3.87 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.00 percent. 
• 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.16 percent with an average 0.8 point, matching last week when it also averaged 3.16 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.27 percent. 
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.82 percent this week, with an average 0.8 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.83 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.87 percent.

MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In the fourth quarter of 2011, fixed-rate loans accounted for more than 95 percent of refinance loans, based on the Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) Quarterly Product Transition Report released today. Refinancing borrowers clearly preferred fixed-rate loans, regardless of whether their original loan was an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or a fixed-rate.

News Facts

• An increasing share of refinancing borrowers chose to shorten their loan terms during the fourth quarter. Of borrowers who paid off a 30-year fixed-rate loan, 43 percent chose a 15- or 20-year loan, the highest such share since the first quarter of 2003.
• Fifty-eight percent of borrowers who had a hybrid ARM transitioned to a fixed-rate loan during the fourth quarter, while the remaining 42 percent chose to refinance into the same type of product.  

Quotes
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist

• "Fixed mortgage rates averaged 4.00 percent for 30-year loans and 3.30 percent for 15-year product during the fourth quarter in Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, well below long-term averages. The Bureau of Economic Analysis has estimated the average coupon on single-family loans was about 5.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011. It's no wonder we continue to see strong refinance activity into fixed-rate loans.
• "For borrowers motivated to refinance by low fixed-rates, they could obtain even lower rates by shortening their term. Compared to a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate on 15-year fixed was about 0.7 percentage points lower during the fourth quarter.  And for borrowers who plan to remain in their current home for only a few years, the hybrid ARM allows for even a greater interest-rate savings. The initial interest rate on a 5/1 hybrid ARM was about 1.1 percentage points lower than on a 30-year fixed-rate loan."

It's a pilot program for the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) -- the first year is capped at 4 megawatts and meant for medium-sized commercial rooftops with a minimum size of 50 kilowatts per installation. The FIT is applicable to solar only, although other renewable energy sources could be considered later on. The city will pay $0.14 per kilowatt-hour for 20-year contracts.

Palo Alto is arguably the heart of Silicon Valley, home to dozens of venture capital firms and thousands of new companies armed with a startup and innovation culture fueled by its immediate neighbor, Stanford University. The city itself has about 26,000 electric meters and a peak load of approximately 180 megawatts.

The program limits itself to medium and large commercial solar rooftops in the interest of keeping workload issues to a minimum in the early stages of this endeavor.

The $0.14 per kilowatt-hour figure was based on the city's avoided cost. Here's the calculation:

• $0.070 for energy
• $0.034 green premium
• $0.006 local capacity value, essentially avoided distribution grid costs
• $0.019 avoided transmission access charges (TAC), an amount paid in California for every kilowatt-hour that is delivered from the transmission grid.
• $0.006 avoided transmission losses
• Total: $0.1355 per kilowatt-hour

 

So, the $0.14 per kilowatt-hour FIT price includes a $0.0045 premium and was agreed upon as a number that would attract developer interest. The cost of a fully subscribed program would be $29,000 per year; the city council estimates that the cost to the utility customer would be $0.01 per month. At this scale and modest cost, the city gains experience with the permitting, interconnection, metering, and billing process while developers gain experience in working with Palo Alto. (Note that Gainesville, Florida's FIT price was in the $0.26 to $0.32 range, which is good for developers, but perhaps not so good for municipalities.)

Craig Lewis, the Director of the Clean Coalition, a distributed generation advocacy group, attended the February 7 Palo Alto City Council meeting and commented that he saw this as "a good program, because it is constrained and not open to residential rooftops." He added, "It delivers the trifecta of being cost-effective, timely, and environmentally sustainable, and the pilot program is designed for success by avoiding pitfalls like dealing with tax complications of residential-level projects." 

Jon Abendschein, Palo Alto's Resource Planner believes that $0.14 per kilowatt-hour is a price that will attract developers to the program.

Detractors of feed-in tariffs have claimed that the prices can never be set at a proper rate and that auction mechanisms are a more equitable solution. Others have argued that having no subsidy at all is the right solution. In the meantime, Palo Alto will likely have a FIT in place come March 5.

Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors will unveil the newest model of its "electric supercar," the Model X, in a live webcast tonight, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. PST.

Tesla is positioning itself as the electric car manufacturer for those who want a "green" car without sacrificing style - one look at a Tesla Roadster or the Model X's predecessor, the Model S, and one might think they were looking at a snazzy new Porsche, Camaro, Ferrari or the like.

The pricing of the Model S ranges from $49,900 for the base model, all the way up to just under $100,000, if one opts for a longer-lasting battery, other amenities, a signature color and more.

To date, Tesla has sold more than 2,000 electric cars in 31 countries around the globe. Their owners have driven more than 18 million electric miles.

Following tonight's live unveiling, interested buyers will be able to reserve their Model X cars through Tesla's website, beginning Friday morning, Feb. 10.

To watch tonight's live webcast, visit www.teslamotors.com.