Merlone Geier seeks OK for city's tallest building

Uploaded: Thursday, May 24, 2012, 11:34 AM

Merlone Geier seeks OK for city's tallest building Nearby small businesses say they're being forced out

by Daniel DeBolt Mountain View Voice Staff

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"To realize we're potentially constructing the tallest structures in Mountain View, I was pretty surprised by that," said Environmental Planning Commissioner Chris Clark.

Developer Merlone Geier has proposed a 12-story, 167-foot-tall office building and parking garage as part of phase 2 of its redevelopment of San Antonio shopping center, an area that encompasses Beverages & More, Ross and Jo-Ann fabrics. To put that in perspective, the city's tallest building at 444 Castro St. is 145 feet tall.

The project also includes a 150 to 200-room hotel, 2,858 parking spaces and 66,000 square feet of ground floor retail facing a park along the Hetch-Hetchy right of way. Merlone Geier is already under construction on phase 1 of the project just south of the site, including a new Safeway, three apartment buildings and dozens of new retail spaces.

Residents packed the council chambers and expressed concern about the project's size and design and about several small businesses, including the Milk Pail Market, at the corner of San Antonio Road and California Street on property that Merlone Geier hopes to buy. The businesses face the possibility of having tall buildings towering in the background.

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Merlone Geier seeks OK for city's tallest building