A nonprofit that runs a Bay Area public television station and a STEM scholarship program for Black students wants to build a seven-story, 17-unit residential tower above its existing headquarters at 135 University Ave. in downtown Palo Alto.

The Minority Television Project filed its preliminary application under Senate Bill 79 on Thursday, July 10, making this the sixth project submitted under the new state housing law since it took effect July 1. The filing landed six days before Palo Alto's local ordinance kicks in Thursday, July 16, capping SB 79 heights and densities at half of what the state law otherwise allows.

The 75-foot-tall building would keep the existing commercial uses on the bottom two floors and stack five stories of housing on top, according to the application. Two of the 17 units would be reserved for very low-income households. The applicant is also invoking the State Density Bonus Law for additional density and requesting a waiver from parking requirements.

In the application letter, attorney Luca Trumbull of Holland & Knight wrote that the site qualifies as a "Tier 1 transit-oriented development stop" because it sits within a quarter-mile of the downtown Caltrain station.

The building at 135 University Ave., near High Street, currently houses the Wade Institute of Technology, which focuses on STEM education for underrepresented students. The institute is affiliated with the Minority Television Project, which owns KMTP-TV (channel 33) and funds graduate engineering scholarships of up to $50,000 per student for economically disadvantaged students, according to the organization's website.

The nonprofit is led by executive director Booker T. Wade Jr., a Stanford Law graduate. IRS filings show the organization holds $109.3 million in total assets, built largely on an $87.8 million payout from the 2016-2017 FCC spectrum auction.

The 135 University Ave. proposal is one of three SB 79 projects the Minority Television Project has filed in Palo Alto. Trumbull is representing the nonprofit on all three. The others: a 24-unit building at 127-129 Lytton Ave. and a 70-unit development near College Avenue and El Camino Real, according to city filings. All three were designed by SC Design Group and feature glass facades and landscaped rooftops with seating areas.

Each application also invokes AB 130 to bypass environmental review and SB 330, which locks in development standards at the time of filing, preventing the city from changing rules while proposals are pending.

The rush of filings followed the City Council's June 15 vote against an urgency ordinance that would have immediately limited SB 79's impact. Mayor Vicki Veenker, Vice Mayor Greer Stone and Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims voted against the urgency measure; Pat Burt and Ed Lauing supported it. George Lu and Keith Reckdahl recused themselves.

With the preliminary application filed, the Minority Television Project has 180 days to submit a formal application to the city. Under SB 79, projects that meet the law's objective standards are not subject to discretionary denial.