Yes, that's right, you heard it -- the new Safeway has finally been approved by the Los Altos City Council! It's a huge improvement over the existing store with more than 45,000 s.f. in a 2-story configuration on the existing site. The downside is that the store will go away for a while but the good news is that downtown will have a modern store that encourages visitors and potential downtown residential growth.
The Los Altos Town Crier has a great story about the new Safeway store. I'm glad the city was finally able to work out a deal that didn't hold the store to the required number of parking spots. The city also stands to get a short term infusion of cash - $500,000 - and assurances the store will be built. Now it's just a matter of setting a timeline for construction.
The whole downtown area is really starting to come together. It's taking a while but it seems well worth it as the town continues transforming into a more vibrant destination. Having a major new grocery store is especially important to anyone thinking of building more residential units downtown. When zoning for Main Street was changed, part of that was driven by the idea of creating a "European-style" village with residential units above retail. That will be more appealing once this new store is completed.
The latest news in the ongoing discussions between Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District is that the district would like Bullis to keep their elementary kids (K-6) at the existing Egan campus and move the middle-school kids to the Blach Middle School campus. This issue has become a source of frustration with parents on both sides and continues to consume a lot of time and money.
The position of the Los Altos School District is that this solution will fairly treat all the kids involved. I'm told the Bullis camp would like a campus of their own. Clearly for there to be an agreement, someone has to give up something. As I've said before, I'm not a fan of dividing a district, especially LASD. However, Bullis ranks very highly on statewide scores and so do most of the LASD campuses. The schools are all winners. Those are the facts. Here's my opinion.
If I were sitting at the negotiating table, I'd suggest that the Bullis Charter School go back to the Bullis-Purissima campus and integrate with the students there. They effectively get the whole campus and some (a BIG SOME) of the educational changes they've implemented could be included in the curriculum. The trade-off would come as this - those students come back into the LASD.
I'm sure both sides would agree that the ultimate goal is to offer the best education possible. Hopefully all this will work out.
The Bus Barn Stage Company is a small theater company that has been operating in near downtown Los Altos for amost 17 years (founded in 1995). It offers professional-quality actors and products in a small theater right near town. The company itself offers a wide range of productions. The current product is Doubt, A Parable with a compelling story line and experienced cast. I had an old classmate actually act in one of their productions years ago. You just never know who you'll get as they do try-outs twice a year. Lots of good actors and actresses.
They're located at 97 Hillview just off San Antonio Road and within easy walking distance of downtown. So, in a way, Bus Barn Stage Company is it's own little Los Altos theater district. You go downtown for dinner and then head over for a show. Very few communities offer a similar experience, without driving to San Francisco or San Jose.
If you are a theater enthusiast, they offer various subscriptions that get you access to several shows through the season and a range of prices. All the prices are quite reasonable and enjoy a variety of benefits. Being a subscriber means you lock in your seat and you know you can always see the latest production. It also supports community theater by guaranteeing you'll be there. Part of what makes Los Altos such a great town is it offers fun and interesting entertainments such as theater.
Visit their website and take a look.
You see those numbers published for your area and know they're off. Like clockwork, the S&P/Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan regions publishes their results, mostly declines, and the media eats it up. What's wrong is that when you look at actual sales performance in those same regions, the figures published by S&P/Case-Shiller are wrong. Very wrong. Worse yet, they're misleading. Let's take a look at why.
Incomplete metropolitan regions: In California, the San Francisco Bay Area metro region is defined by San Francisco and immediately surrounding areas, including some troubled markets in the East Bay. What's missing, and typically included by local market analysis, is the lower Peninsula and all of Silicon Valley. That means the analysis they use to talk about the region as a whole, doesn't include any of the area's strong markets and over 1 milion residents. Nationally recognized hot spots like Palo Alto are completely excluded. Look at other regions they use across the country and you'll see similar exclusions.
Paired sales analysis flaws: The core of their analysis is "paired sales". That's when they compare the sale of a home in the past with the sale of the exact same home now. That method misses micro-market dynamics that impact broader sales averages.
I had an argument with someone two years ago (2010) about paired sales in Palo Alto. They claimed paired sales showed a decline, which was true. However, when looking at average and median sales it showed increases that year as well as 2011. The broader markets improve while the pairs show a different picture. I'll take the averages any day - much more accurate.
Reports are too late: There are indvidual metro areas and the 20-city composite is calculated monthly but accurate details are reported 2 months later. Telling a buyer in April that the market is slow, based on February data, is part of what has held back recovery because the reports cast doubt on a market that, at the moment, may be perfectly fine.
The market reports of a local agent will provide a more accurate picture of the broader trend than Case-Shiller. While they claim that the index accounts for home quality and other factors (such as reducing relevance based on time between sales), it appears that S&P/Case-Shiller shows a very skewed impression of the market.
What do you need to do to counter these errors? Split single-family homes from condos/townhouses. They're two completely different markets. Educate consumers with...
This is a spectacular house! Not only is it on two flat acres but it has brilliant landscaping, a circular driveway by the house (after a long drive past the entry gate), and it's fully staged. There have been quite a few improvements since it was last on the market. In my opinion, this home is not only gorgeous but also an excellent value.
This grand estate has a 10,000 sq. ft. main home and 1000 sq. ft. guest house. The home and guest house has 6 bedrooms, and 7+ bathrooms with a master suite, a pool, chefs kitchen, large wet bar, 4 car garage, and more.
This luxury home is located in one of the best areas of Los Altos Hills with many of the finest estate homes nearby. Conveniently located on over 2 acres of flat land, this is truly an estate property. Of the many features in this home, There is plenty of room for entertaining and living. One of my favorite features is the lounge with a full wet bar and additional bar seating.
The guest house is ideal for long-term visitors because it has 2 separate bedroom suites, a full kitchen, and separate living room area. Depending on who is staying, one suite could be used as an office, gym, or family room. There's lots of flexibility.
The rest of the estate has excellent flow on the grounds and in the house for entertaining. There's plenty of parking space, easy access for catering, and a natural flow that could have guests going into the home or the patio. There is also more space to add a tennis or sport court, stables, and other luxury features upon approval of the Town of Los Altos Hills. There is nothing else on the market that offers this much at this price.
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Whether you are buying or selling a home in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Saratoga or Atherton, you can count on my expertise to get the job done.
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