An 85-foot apartment building is coming to 762 San Antonio Road after the Palo Alto City Council voted unanimously Monday, Aug. 17, to approve the 228-unit project, the latest Builder's Remedy development to override local zoning rules on the corridor where the city is planning thousands of new homes.

Developer Gary Johnson of Acclaim Companies invoked Builder's Remedy, a state law that lets developers ignore local height, density and design standards when a city lacks a compliant housing plan, the Palo Alto Daily Post reported. Palo Alto saw about 10 such applications filed between January 2023 and August 2024, when the state finally certified the city's Housing Element more than a year and a half past deadline.

"This seems to be right place in the city for this kind of height and density," Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims said at the meeting.

Councilman Pat Burt proposed that upper floors step back from the street so San Antonio Road wouldn't feel like a tunnel. Johnson and his architect rejected the idea, saying setbacks would make apartments too narrow. "We're trying to maximize our square footage," Johnson said.

Under Builder's Remedy, the city has few tools to force design changes on a qualifying project.

Two neighbors pushed back. Resident Joan Larrabee raised concerns about gridlock on San Antonio Road and emergency vehicles reaching homes during commute hours. The Council approved the project anyway.

The vote lands as the city advances the San Antonio Road Area Plan, which envisions roughly 6,700 new homes along a one-mile stretch between Middlefield Road and Highway 101. The Council voted 6-1 in June to move that plan's core scenario into its next analysis phase. Planning commissioners in March debated whether buildings along the corridor should top out at 60 feet or 90 feet.

Acclaim is no stranger to the corridor's transformation. The company broke ground Aug. 11 on a separate 368-unit complex at 3150 El Camino Real, the former Fish Market site, which was also initially filed under Builder's Remedy before the city created a local process to accommodate it.

In a secondary action Monday night, the Council voted to accelerate plans for a bike lane on San Antonio Road. The number of affordable units in the 228-unit project and construction timelines have not been publicly confirmed.

With the area plan still advancing and individual Builder's Remedy projects already winning approval, the eight-story building at 762 San Antonio Road won't be the last height debate on the corridor.