Downtown Housing Plan

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The Downtown Housing Plan is an Area Plan focused on housing production in Palo Alto’s downtown, implementing the policies and programs of the City’s Comprehensive Plan and the 2023-2031 Housing Element. The objective of the Area Plan is to establish policies, development standards, and design standards, and to plan for public infrastructure necessary to accelerate housing production and further fair housing while ensuring that the downtown area continues to be an attractive local and regional destination.

The Downtown Housing Plan development process includes extensive outreach to engage the community, businesses, and regional and local stakeholders. A community advisory group has been formed to provide feedback to the project team at key project milestones.

Community Assessment Report

The Downtown Housing Plan Community Assessment Report represents a critical first step in reimagining Palo Alto's downtown as a vibrant, inclusive, and livable neighborhood that supports the City's broader goals for increased housing production. The project team conducted an analysis of existing land use, mobility, housing, economy, services, utilities and infrastructure, and equity. A report on existing conditions, opportunities, and constraints is available for review below.

Downtown Housing Plan Community Assessment Report(PDF, 14MB)

Downtown Housing Plan Area Diagram

Project Timeline

  • Project Kick-off

    31/03/2024

    Complete

  • Community Advisory Group and Technical Advisory Group Formation

    07/2024 - 11/2024

    Complete
    A Community Advisory Group has been formed to assist the project team by providing input and feedback on the plan development process. A Technical Advisory Group comprised of staff members from different City departments and other public agencies was also formed. The advisory groups will meet on an as-needed basis over the course of the project.

     

  • Existing Conditions and Analysis

    04/2024 - 02/2025

    In Progress

    The project team conducted an analysis of existing land use, mobility, housing, economy, services, utilities and infrastructure, and equity. A report on existing conditions, opportunities, and constraints is now available for review.

  • Feasibility Analysis

    01/06/2025

    In Progress

    The project team is working on a feasibility analysis to prepare recommendations for updates to existing standards to achieve the objective of the Downtown Housing Plan. The findings and alternatives prepared will be tentatively presented to the City Council in fall 2025.

Engagement Opportunities

Upcoming Events

Downtown Housing Plan: Community Workshop 3 

The project team will meet with the community in Fall 2025 to gather input on concept alternatives to arrive at a preferred alternative to include in the Downtown Housing Plan.

Additional pop-up events in the community will be hosted to increase awareness of the project, advertise engagement avenues, and to receive broader community feedback. Please subscribe for updates here: Sign Up

Past Events

  • Community Advisory Group Meeting 2 - The Palo Alto Downtown Housing Plan - Community Advisory Group convened for the second time on July 01, 2025. The meeting was structured with a brief presentation discussing key findings of the community assessment report and feedback received from Community Workshop 2.
    • Community Advisory Group Meeting 2 Presentation slides are available here(PDF, 9MB).
  • June 18, 2025, Community Workshop 2 - The Palo Alto Downtown Housing Plan Community Workshop 2 was held at the Palo Alto Downtown Library. The event aimed to build on Community Assessment analysis by sharing key challenges and opportunities to producing housing in the Plan Area; findings from preliminary analysis of residential prototypes; and an interactive exercise engaging in collaboratively distributing density within the Plan Area. The workshop drew approximately 25 attendees, from different backgrounds and diverse perspectives on housing downtown. The interactive exercise provided a broader understanding of where in the Plan Area the community feels comfortable distributing density with context sensitivity.

  • Service Employee Focus Groups and Survey – As a part of the community outreach and engagement for the Downtown housing Plan, the project team coordinated with the members of the Community Advisory Group to conduct focus group discussions and a survey focused on receiving input from essential workers and downtown Palo Alto service employees.

    • A report on the Service Employee Focus Groups and Survey conducted is available here(PDF, 186KB). 
  • Community Advisory Group Meeting 1 - The Palo Alto Downtown Housing Plan - Community Advisory Group convened for the first time on January 14, 2025. The meeting was structured with a brief presentation, introduction to the project and the project team, and discussion on the vision and community engagement strategy. 
    • A memo on the Community Advisory Group Meeting 1 is available here(PDF, 196KB).
    • Community Advisory Group Meeting 1 Presentation slides are available here(PDF, 7MB).
  • Survey - A survey to gather community feedback on the vision for the downtown area was open until December 20, 2024. The survey centered on different approaches that could be used to facilitate housing production collected over 400 individual responses. A report on the Community Survey conducted is available here(PDF, 404KB).
  • October 10, 2024, Community Open House (Workshop 1) - The Palo Alto Downtown Housing Plan Community Open House was a drop-in event at the Palo Alto City Hall. The City Hall Community Meeting Room and lobby, a central and familiar landmark located in the plan area, was chosen to encourage broad participation from community members. Workshop materials were designed to distill key information and be interactive for attendees to engage with and provide.

    The workshop drew approximately 30 attendees, ranging from seniors to working professionals, downtown residents and non-residents, property and business owners, housing developers, renters, owners, and organizations representing the needs of seniors, families, and early childhood education. The community members interacted directly with the project team, offering feedback through one-on-one discussions and written comments on cards and sticky notes. This open and interactive format fostered an environment that allowed for informal discussions and a range of feedback from the community.  

  • Pop up events - Staff and consultants hosted tables at several events in the winter to increase the community’s awareness of the project, advertise the survey, and to receive broader community feedback. Pop up events included the 2024 and 2025 May Fete events, Lytton Plaza Tree Lighting (December 6, 2024), Cal Avenue Farmer’s Market (December 15, 2024), and 3rd Thursday on Cal Ave (December 19,2024). The project team will also be present at the Municipal Service Center Event on Saturday, July 26, 2025.

Previous Council, Commissions and Boards Meetings

Date Agenda and Staff Report 
June 16, 2025 Council Meeting 

Agenda (Item #B - Info Report: Summary of Downtown Housing Plan Community Assessment Report and Next Steps

Staff Report(PDF, 122KB)
December 2, 2024 Council Meeting 

Agenda (Item #20 - Info Report: Appointment of the Community Advisory Group (CAG) for Downtown Housing Plan

Staff Report(PDF, 128KB)
September 23, 2024 Council Meeting 

Agenda (Item #5 - Revised Project Boundary)

Staff Report(PDF, 500KB)
June 17, 2024 Council Meeting  Agenda (Item #34 - Info Report establishing Community Advisory Group (CAG)
February 26, 2024 Council Meeting  Agenda (Item #9 - Downtown Housing Plan consultant contracts)
April 18, 2022 Council Meeting

Agenda(PDF, 8MB) (Item #7 - Priority Development Area Project Grant)

Staff Report(PDF, 2MB)

Other Resources

Housing       Planning      Housing Policies

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Contact Us

Email: downtownhousingplan@paloalto.gov

Project Manager

Vishnu Krishnan, Senior Planner
vishnu.krishnan@paloalto.gov

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