A rowhouse proposal for 333 N. Rengstorff Ave. in Mountain View is the latest approved project among the city’s various residential developments that include luxury apartments, affordable-housing units and condominiums.
The project, proposed by Oakland-based full-service architecture, planning and interior design firm Dinar & Associates, would add 29 homes selling for about $1 million each to the city’s residential mix.
[contextly_sidebar id=”EYEmjsdpbKKb2Z5x2glYFzmbIGUXu15F”]City Council recently granted conditional approvals for the project to proceed and the company is expected to seek a building permit soon.“I know they want to get started,” Mountain View Assistant Planner Elizabeth Cramblet said.
The project would raze an existing two-story, 32-unit apartment building and replace it with three-story houses featuring Spanish-style architecture, garages, front porches and balconies.
The project on the 1.72-acre parcel would also have nine guest parking spots, pathways and a courtyard. In addition, it would take out 90 trees—most of them in poor condition—but plant 88 new ones in their place.
Current apartment tenants will be compensated in some way. For instance, Dinar has agreed to give all the tenants the cash equivalent of two months’ rent as a condition of the project’s approval.
Dinar’s project was deemed compatible with the height, mass and density found in the Monta Loma community, Cramblet said.
The area already has single-family residences as well as schools and neighborhood and regional shopping centers.
The project site has a total assessed value of $7.2 million, according to a city staff report.
“If the site were a development with 29 residential units with an average sales price of approximately $1 million, the estimated valuation would be approximately $29 million, from which the city would receive approximately $46,400 per year,” the report said.
Dinar proposed the project on behalf of the property owner, Mounir Kardosh, the founder and CEO of San Mateo-based commercial and residential developer Nazareth Enterprises Inc., whose portfolio includes the ice-skating venue Nazareth Ice Oasis at 3140 Bay Road in Redwood City, the mixed-use Nazareth Plaza at 800 South B St. in San Mateo and Nazareth Hotel at 556 Jones St. in San Francisco.
Moshe Dinar, the principal of the architectural firm, deferred questions to Nazareth executives. Kardosh could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Mountain View project is seen as an opportunity to have more home ownership in the city, Cramblet said.
Although it does take away some rental units, she said, the city has a number of other residential projects in the development pipeline.
Some notable housing projects planned or under way in the city include South Carolina-based Greystar’s 164-unit apartment development at 801 El Camino Real West; San Mateo-based Prometheus Real Estate Group’s 373-unit rental complex at 420 San Antonio Road; and 819 North Rengstorff Apartments with 49 low-income units by Santa Clara-based ROEM Corp. and Hayward-based Eden Housing Inc.
Also, other rowhouse projects in the Monta Loma area are 33 units at 1951 Colony St. and 19 units at 1958 Rock St.
Rendering courtesy of Dinar & Associates
