[0:00] Welcome. This is the August 26th, 2026 economic development committee. Clerk,

[0:06] can we take role? >> Council member here.

[0:10] » Council member Lou >> here.

[0:12] » Chair Real >> here.

[0:13] » Vice Mayor Stone >> here.

[0:14] » For the record, three present.

[0:18] » Okay. Next, we have in-person public comment

[0:22] on items that are not on the agenda. So, you can talk about anything that's under

[0:25] the purview of this commission. Our

[0:30] first speaker is Gu

[0:36] to the microphone.

[0:40] » All right. So, I don't know if this is out of order or, you know, even relevant

[0:44] to this particular meeting, but [snorts] um I've been thinking a lot about the

[0:48] last meeting I attended and um the idea of making uh Ramona Street or parts of

[0:54] downtown entertainment districts. Um, and it's something I'd like to

[0:58] continue exploring. [clears throat] I believe making the

[1:03] close part of Ramona the entire entertainment district makes

[1:07] the most sense from a control perspective due to the existing

[1:11] barriers. Maybe there's a carve out for the wine room. Um, but of course I

[1:15] understand the difficulty of uh managing that when you have two, three, four

[1:20] blocks that are all considered that. So, I guess I don't want to ruin one idea

[1:25] or, you know, just cuz one idea isn't great doesn't mean we can't

[1:29] turn tune it down. Of course, you know, I have my own interest in this

[1:34] obviously, but um you know, on Ramona, this is something we deal with anyway.

[1:38] So, I show up at 8 in the morning and there's glassware from Nola on one of

[1:42] the red chairs and we're kind of chasing people down with beers and telling them

[1:46] they can't go down the street. So, I guess people are naturally doing it. And

[1:50] when we with all those chairs there and the environment there, it makes sense

[1:53] that people feel like they want to do that, you know? [gasps]

[1:58] So I think we should just design the space for that to happen. Um, and I

[2:04] guess it's part of like a broader thought of mine about that street in

[2:08] general, which we've gone [gasps] back and forth a lot on. Um, but you

[2:13] know, I think that there really is an opportunity with the existing businesses

[2:17] that are there. Osteria, Nola, Koopa. I mean, these are some of the longest

[2:22] standing businesses in Palo Alto as far as food service is concerned and just

[2:26] the beauty of the street um I think should really be celebrated. Uh and

[2:32] right now it feels like we're all kind of on a a different page. Uh we've been

[2:36] dealing with, [snorts] you know, I've had this woman arrested three times in

[2:39] the last two weeks coming into my business at the pro. Um, and there are

[2:44] ways to design these spaces to just uh dissuade people from behaving this way.

[2:50] Um, and just make it a little harder for them uh to be there loitering. [gasps]

[2:54] Um, so I just wanted to bring it back up. I from my understanding there's a

[2:59] period of time now that they're experimenting with this on California

[3:02] Avenue and at some point there'll be a report maybe in the fall about how

[3:05] that's going. So my thought was to, you know, kind of piggyback off that

[3:10] assuming there's a positive there's positive feedback from that um and kind

[3:15] of give downtown an opportunity to also um I guess in parallel be be part of

[3:21] that the benefits of all that. Um California is a much bigger street with

[3:25] a lot more to manage. So I don't think it'll be very difficult. Um,

[3:31] and you know, my ultimate hope is to create a bit of a center of gravity

[3:35] there and positive energy, whether it's through music, um, these art walks that

[3:41] I'm working on, having just things that are occurring and happening, uh, on that

[3:46] street in conjunction. >> Okay. In conjunction with what goes on

[3:50] here, uh, in the front, I think there could be a synergy there since they're

[3:53] so close to each other. >> Thank you. You're welcome.

[4:06] That concludes public comment for items not on the agenda. In person public

[4:10] comment. >> Okay. Thank you. We move on to the first

[4:13] action item. The business retention expansion and attraction strategy.

[4:19] Alex, you taking over? >> I am. Good afternoon, economic

[4:23] development committee. My pleasure to be here before you. The first agenda item

[4:28] as as the chair just indicated the business retention expansion and

[4:31] attraction strategy known as the Brea strategy. I want to start by saying that

[4:37] this came about in January when you were at your council retreat regarding uh

[4:43] values, priorities and objectives. And two things came from that. One of the

[4:48] four priorities is enhancing business vibrancy and something that was

[4:53] discussed throughout is government efficiency. Those two aspects are a part

[4:58] of this Brea strategy. So if we can go to the next slide please.

[5:06] I'll start by saying economic development sits at the intersection of

[5:09] people, place and prosperity. When economic development is done well, it

[5:14] can result in really good job uh opportunities, good quality job

[5:20] opportunities, um economic vitality for the community, businesses succeed, and

[5:26] really what's important for us here at the city is revenue generation. It

[5:30] allows for the city then to pay for essential services of course that our

[5:35] community has become accustomed to. So that's just the the background there.

[5:40] The Brea strategy has two technical categories. Number one being enhancing

[5:45] business vibrancy followed by engagement and promotions. So the Brea strategy is

[5:50] also going going to focus on strengthening the tax base, developing a

[5:55] competitive and unique advantage, looking at our real estate assets from

[5:59] an entrepreneurial perspective, business and community engagement, promotions,

[6:04] marketing, and activation activities. So, we're really trying to be proactive

[6:08] in our economic development work program. Before we go to the next slide,

[6:13] I also want to say that this item was actually before the economic development

[6:16] committee in March, but because of other priorities, it wasn't considered. So,

[6:21] here we are, August 26th. But, uh, just know that because of government

[6:26] efficiency, economic development has already commenced some of these

[6:29] implementation actions that you will hear about next and in some instances

[6:34] completed others. Next slide please.

[6:40] So as it relates to the first objective, we're trying to strengthen the tax base

[6:45] here. Uh for us in economic development, we are constantly looking at data. We

[6:50] want to be able to respond to any changing trends and the three revenue

[6:55] sources that we constantly look at are sales tax revenues, transit occupancy

[7:00] tax, which is tot revenues. What we're trying to achieve

[7:06] here is to create and formalize a corporate visitation program. So when

[7:11] you look at our top 25 sales tax generators, economic development would

[7:16] reach out to the top 10, for example. What we'd like to do before the end of

[7:20] this calendar year is reach out to three of the top 10 to 25 businesses.

[7:27] The other objective here on the screen has to do with new investment

[7:31] opportunities. we have to uh be ready and pivot when a new business is coming

[7:36] in or a business is threatening to leave or needing expansion services. And so we

[7:43] intend to develop a list of both financial and non-financial incentives

[7:48] right now. It's not to say that we need them, but it does help staff with

[7:52] supporting and growing um our businesses uh especially when it starts when it be

[7:58] begins to um relate to starting a business. scaling the business because

[8:03] we want to make sure that they stay here. An example of a non-financial

[8:07] incentive for us could be permit facilitation, for example. That's part

[8:10] of our daily uh course of work. A financial incentive could be executing a

[8:17] tax sharing agreement, for example, with a company. Next slide, please.

[8:23] So, we have a very interesting and uh unique competitive advantage here. We're

[8:29] not the only city along the peninsula that has venture capital incubators and

[8:33] accelerators, but I would say that we have a pretty significant number of

[8:38] these types of businesses here. The number of foreign investment offices

[8:43] that are located here off of Calav and particular in our downtown is uh really

[8:48] something to be proud about. We've already had meetings with the council

[8:53] general, the innovation center of Denmark. We're in communication with

[8:58] Japan Innovation Campus again to um schedule a meeting to find how we can uh

[9:04] create partnerships and cultivate our innovation and entrepreneurial

[9:08] ecosystem. Um we've been in touch with Playground Global and so that's just a

[9:14] really important um competitive advantage that we have to put forth. We

[9:19] are always in competition regarding investment and so we'd rather have

[9:23] investment come to Palo Alto versus our neighbors to the south or neighbors to

[9:27] the north. The other objective on the screen has to

[9:31] do with the flyer on the right hand side of the screen which is providing our

[9:36] small business community with technical assistance. So we Ruth and I are working

[9:41] with the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center as well as the NorCal

[9:45] Small Business Development Center to provide an access to capital training.

[9:50] So in late September and early October, we will host a three module access to

[9:56] cap to capital training and it's really important to help our business

[10:01] businesses be able to overcome challenges, build capacities and just

[10:05] have the technical assistance um to put their business plan um in effect. Next

[10:11] slide please. So real estate assets very important for

[10:16] us in economic development. Real estate is synonymous with economic development

[10:21] and so fermenting relationships with our real estate network is really important.

[10:26] In particular, our real estate brokers, they're the eyes and ears of the real

[10:29] estate community. Of course, uh I would include the property managers and

[10:33] development uh community members as well. We are constantly in communication

[10:38] with them. And so what we intend to do here uh is to host a real estate broker

[10:45] roundt where we can have a panel conversation and invite representatives

[10:48] of course from the real estate industry but have representatives from both

[10:52] building and planning to talk to our development community about uh any

[10:57] changing uh land use or um or zoning type of flexibility that you for example

[11:05] um recommended to the city council such as the retail vitality ordinance. And so

[11:12] the market, as we all know, changes quite quickly. And unfortunately,

[11:17] us in local government can't uh pivot as quickly, but when we're talking to

[11:23] representatives in the real estate world, it allows economic development to

[11:27] um be better informed and um proceed with particular strategies in

[11:34] that regard. Now in terms of real estate assets, we should all know what is it

[11:39] that the city owns in terms of its real estate. And so we are piloting a program

[11:46] where we would utilize our real estate assets for revenue generation. Economic

[11:50] development along with the city manager's office executed a license

[11:54] agreement with NOVU for the use of 20 dedicated parking spaces lot it should

[11:59] say parking garage lot Q. Now, the result of that is a three-year term and

[12:04] approximately $300,000 in revenue. This is a pilot program that we would like to

[12:09] scale, and we will speaking we'll be speaking to other potential businesses

[12:13] and or hotels that may have a similar need. Our parking uh structures are not

[12:19] being used to the extent that they were uh before the pandemic in terms of

[12:25] demand. Next slide, please. So we're moving on to engagement and

[12:30] promotions. Uh oftent times we are in the relationship business and so we like

[12:35] to work at the speed of trust and so public and private partnerships are

[12:41] absolutely uh important for us to leverage resources for community

[12:44] projects. I mentioned retail vibrancy ordinance. Uh just uh recently the city

[12:50] council approved the second reading of that. So Ruth and I would be sharing

[12:55] that information with our real estate uh community as well as uh businesses, the

[13:00] business improvement district. There is um interest by staff to begin to

[13:07] reassess and bring that business improvement district back downtown. We

[13:12] have started hosting regularly monthly scheduled downtown and university avenue

[13:17] stakeholder meetings. And so what we really want to achieve

[13:21] here is to go to the business community and e the economic development team here

[13:26] would like to create office hour events where we would be stationed on Calav as

[13:32] well as University Avenue for additional business and community engagement. We

[13:35] want to go to where the business community is, the small business and

[13:38] retail community. Moving on to the other objective here, the entertainment zone

[13:43] ordinance. Our vice mayor there is in that photo um who cut the ribbon for the

[13:49] inaugural Thursday live event which uh we now are moving into our fourth event

[13:55] tomorrow. We've activated the entertainment zone. Thank you to the

[13:59] economic development committee. You've recommended to the council and an

[14:03] ordinance was approved in the spring. We have hosted thus far two entertainment

[14:08] zones. We tomorrow night will be our third entertainment zone. We uh are

[14:13] working with our city manager's office intern. There are two surveys that we've

[14:18] developed and we're going to start surveying both the business community

[14:21] and the community at large that comes and attends. We expect to utilize the

[14:27] results in such a way that we come back to the economic development committee

[14:30] and share what's worked, what hasn't, what can we do to make sure that if

[14:35] there's an opportunity to move the entertainment zone to Ramona Street, it

[14:41] would be a well functioning machine at that point based on our learnings. Next

[14:46] slide, please. >> So Ramona was part of the ordinance

[14:49] rather. Well, you all um thought that uh we staff should be thinking bigger

[14:56] » and staff thought it would be best for safety and for security to focus on Cal

[15:03] Avenue as a pilot just to learn what's going to work and what's not. Um, as we

[15:07] heard earlier from one of our business owners here in downtown, clearly Calav

[15:12] is much larger than Ramona Street. But we just want to make sure that we go

[15:16] through this pilot program and have a better understanding of how to roll out

[15:19] a successful entertainment zone here in downtown. And I think we we can do that

[15:24] based on some of the learnings that we are currently.

[15:27] » So, did the ordinance have both and we're just implementing CAV? I thought I

[15:32] thought both were in there. I think that uh well, I had a conversation with our

[15:35] city attorney's office and I believe that there might be an opportunity to

[15:40] amend the existing ordinance in order to add Ramona Street onto that existing

[15:46] ordinance. That would be the mechanism I believe. So, and so we would confirm

[15:50] that. We could come back to the economic development committee with that.

[15:54] » Alex is correct. Um council members, so you have an enabling ordinance. We just

[15:59] have to enable the specific districts. So you would amend your current one to

[16:04] add downtown Ramona or one of those areas. Um but you have the foundation

[16:10] when you established co-op. >> Okay.

[16:12] » So Alex uh was correct. >> Okay. Thank you. Next slide please.

[16:17] And then of course we have we'll have a question and answer session and we're

[16:20] happy to answer and get a little bit deeper on these uh these issues. We're

[16:25] going through this presentation relatively quickly. There's a lot more

[16:28] in attachment A of the staff report. So, uh, 2026 activities and events, people

[16:34] want to be where other people are. And that's why we want to cultivate a

[16:38] vibrant and what's known as quote unquote sticky public places. And

[16:43] certainly, we're doing that on Calab with the entertainment zone and Thursday

[16:47] live. We have promoted variety of activities, some of which you see the

[16:52] flyers there on the right hand side, Thursday live, FIFA, World Cup. I think

[16:57] our businesses that are listed on that matchwatch uh promotions list did really

[17:02] well from a business perspective and then of course BTS concerts and and

[17:06] future concerts that Stanford may host. The last objective is innovation and

[17:11] entrepreneurship branding. We want to continue to enhance our brand which is

[17:17] of course a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship from a global

[17:20] perspective. And so we like to partner with our foreign investment offices.

[17:24] They see the value in being here. They've been here for a long time. We

[17:27] should start building relationships with them. The takeaway here would be a

[17:31] destination marketing website in partnership with the Chamber of

[17:34] Commerce. The next slide, please. Will actually give you some mockups of what

[17:39] the website could look. We we we're working on this. Uh likely it'll go live

[17:45] in by the end of the year. And so people that are coming to Palo Alto would have

[17:50] an opportunity to plan their perfect day and shopping, eating, dining, playing

[17:55] and a variety of interest points. So this is a uh website that the chamber of

[18:01] commerce will own. They will ma maintain this. Of course the the city is

[18:05] sponsoring this. So we have uh ability of course to share our our thoughts. Our

[18:11] communications team is engaged here. So we're excited about this. There will be

[18:16] a sizzle reel uh which would be bas basically a 30 or 60sec um video that

[18:23] gets people excited about coming to Palo Alto. This is the last slide uh except

[18:27] for the recommendation slide. So again just want to uh end where I started

[18:32] which is the Brea strategy is focused on two things. one being the

[18:38] city council priority of enhancing business vibrancy. And please know that

[18:43] we were intending to get in front of you much earlier. And so due to government

[18:47] efficiency, we uh started implementing some of these implementation actions and

[18:52] in some instances have completed some of these items.

[18:55] The recommendation here on the screen, the economic development committee will

[18:58] receive a presentation of the Brea strategy and make a recommendation to

[19:03] the city council to approve the strategy. That concludes the

[19:07] presentation and happy for us to take uh any questions you may have.

[19:11] » Okay. Do you guys have any clarifying questions before we move to public

[19:14] comment? >> Okay, let's go to public comment.

[19:21] Our

[19:27] [snorts]

[19:43] first speaker is Steve L.

[19:52] on.

[19:59] » So, first I came to

[20:04] » slide a little closer your mouth here. >> Okay.

[20:08] » Thank you. to thank you for

[20:12] promoting retail vitality by expanding

[20:20] um what we consider retail and by allowing

[20:27] household population serving services to be located in the downtown area. Um

[20:35] Nancy and I live there. We are major shoppers including um enormous time

[20:42] spent on Ramona.

[20:46] I'd like to encourage you and and Alex to take that welcoming attitude

[20:54] toward high wage job creation whether that's traditional offices or labs or

[21:01] R&D. The research park I think just got a big auto technology

[21:07] startup. Um, you've got a whole set of actions there that you can take. As a

[21:16] regional economist, I got to tell you, it's tough. Santa Clara and Sunnyvale in

[21:23] particular, other cities, but they have large advantages in terms of open land

[21:30] and they're going gung-ho for high wage job

[21:34] » [snorts] >> um activities.

[21:38] So, I hope you work it out. I don't have any specific suggestions. Obviously,

[21:44] um if you all can work something out with Stanford Research Park, that seems

[21:49] to be an ideal location for that. Um

[21:56] two other points about Stanford that should involve the strategy.

[22:03] one is um either today or Thursday or Friday, they're going to release the

[22:09] draft general use permit program. Um council member Lowing and I are on the

[22:16] advisory committee. I have been pushing them hard to think of the relationship

[22:24] of their land use plan to economic growth and innovation both in terms of

[22:30] the um campus activities but also the research park. Um and finally,

[22:38] we all know that their activities, whether it's shopping center with

[22:44] visitors spending um the hospital and the research park with people coming um

[22:50] all of the Stanford activities, sports and parents weekend that fill our hotels

[22:56] and fill our sales tax and transit occupancy tax coffers. I think the

[23:02] working relationship with Stanford would be helpful.

[23:08] » Thank you, Steve. [clears throat]

[23:12] » Our next speaker is John S. [laughter]

[23:23] » Red is on. Thank you. Uh John, John Shank with Thoitz Brothers. Um, thank

[23:28] you all for being a part of this committee. I think it's critically

[23:32] important and it's a great place, I think, for us to be able to engage with

[23:37] you and when the when appropriate, engage in two-way conversations and not

[23:42] just the one way, but um we're here uh to be helpful when we can. Um, in terms

[23:47] of today's agenda and the things that I was peeking at in the in the staff

[23:51] report, I want to remind you guys that the through the street

[23:57] sense program that happened two years ago, three, 20 years ago, something

[24:02] there was a lot of effort that went into that at least I think from the staff

[24:06] side, but also from the community side. Lots of engagement, lots of meetings,

[24:10] lots of walking the blocks, all these sorts of things that culminated in their

[24:14] report. Um sadly I don't think a lot was made of it but I think it's worth

[24:20] dusting off and not necessarily starting feeling like oh we have to start over

[24:26] there there are new facts new slightly different retail trends or these other

[24:31] things but the bulk of it I think was very on I didn't love every aspect of it

[24:36] but it represented I think a tremendous amount of work so I think that would be

[24:40] a good thing for [snorts] um and Alex you weren't here but I I

[24:44] think it's a good thing to use as a base. Um I think

[24:51] [clears throat] one of the one of the one aspect of their report had to do

[24:55] with events, gathering spaces, all of this. And in the downtown, not speaking

[24:59] of Calab or elsewhere, but in the downtown, they targeted this. They said

[25:04] right here we should we the city should be figuring out how do we make King

[25:09] Plaza how do we make this a center point and then it can tie into Centennial Way.

[25:14] It can tie into Ramona Street. I think at that time Ramona Street closure

[25:17] wasn't final or it was being banned around but I think there's great

[25:21] synergies there and it's a tre on top of the biggest. I mean it's got all the

[25:26] parking underneath all of this. I think it's a great place to focus. As I look

[25:31] around, I feel like it's a lot of wasted space in a way. It's plenty fine, but

[25:35] why not make it a place for the concerts or the gatherings or the school events

[25:40] or whatever it is. So, I [snorts] think that's something we ought to think

[25:42] about. Um, as for the bid, I know it's a kind of a a smaller nuance in here. We

[25:49] you all stopped collecting it, I don't know when, 10 years ago, 8 years ago or

[25:53] something like this. I caution against starting it before

[25:59] um I would say before I can not me not me personally but we can then

[26:04] communicate to a retailer why are you paying this additional fee what's it

[26:08] going to do and I wouldn't do it on the hopes that we're going to have a great

[26:13] marketing campaign that's going to start after I think we need to be able to go

[26:18] and say because I don't know a single retailer who has all this extra money

[26:21] today so here's a tax No, here's what we're doing. Here's what we're going to

[26:27] do. They've been asking for cleanliness, safety,

[26:32] and they think their taxes already should pay that. So, if we're going to

[26:34] say pay more,

[26:38] thank you. >> Our next speaker is Alex G.

[26:43] » Hi, Alex Joonoto with Inventory Management. And first I just want to say

[26:50] um really do appreciate the the dedication to the business retention and

[26:58] um an appreciation for business which I think hasn't always been the case in the

[27:03] town. I think maybe the whole COVID situation taught us everything that we

[27:09] can't take things for granted and um the retail preservation uh retail

[27:15] enhancement initiative just passed with the zoning has already been very helpful

[27:21] I can tell you immediately helpful in terms of an expansion of uses and I

[27:26] think you're going to see some interesting things coming to the town uh

[27:30] with regards to the uh Brea plan I think there's a lot of great ideas in there, a

[27:36] lot of great energy. Uh I'd like to suggest maybe something that's not quite

[27:41] on the list at the moment, which is uh using the economic development resources

[27:48] to help inform uh planning and council meetings. I always think it's kind of

[27:54] strange that there are resources such as you go to ask the planning comm uh

[28:01] planning staff about something, they give you the planning, here's what the

[28:04] code says. You go ask the city attorney, hey, what does the law say? Lost in all

[28:11] this seems to be what are the economic consequences of this decision we're

[28:15] being asked to make? And um that sort of analysis I think would be really

[28:20] helpful. Um it also is kind of the language of the business community when

[28:26] when you speak in terms of let's say return on investment or

[28:33] um uh what is the revenue impact of of this decision.

[28:38] It communicates to to us that you are speaking a language that we understand

[28:45] and that you are considering these things and they're important to your

[28:48] decision-m process. So, I'm just suggesting that that would be a nice

[28:52] addition to how we do the public hearings and this would be an added

[29:00] resource to provide that analysis for you. Thank you.

[29:05] Okay. Thank you. >> That concludes public comment for item

[29:09] one. >> Okay.

[29:12] George Greer, do you want to start it off?

[29:17] [clears throat] >> Okay. might need a second wrap as I

[29:21] organize some of my thoughts. Um, yeah, I appreciate this work. I think this all

[29:27] makes sense and sets sort of valuable groundwork. Context

[29:32] building is uh uh work that we want to do. I'm glad that we've been doing it

[29:37] and not holding ourselves to uh uh to our agendas. Um

[29:45] I think the uh big picture thought is just that we

[29:50] already of course in August uh we this is entitled the 2026 plan. So I'm

[29:55] already thinking you know what's next right like we're going to learn from uh

[30:00] the investors and potential investors and real estate brokers. Um but then my

[30:07] hope is that next year we can uh uh

[30:14] have a series of concrete programs to sort of fall out of that. Um I'm curious

[30:18] at this stage if we have a sense of yeah what the

[30:24] yeah what we've learned and if there's any inkling of where we'll take these

[30:28] learnings for next year's plan assuming there is a plan next year. you

[30:33] know, correct me if I'm wrong. >> Yeah, thank you for that question. I'd

[30:38] like to start and acknowledge that yes, I think back in 2022 is when the

[30:43] economic development strategy was approved by the city council and I was

[30:47] just looking at it earlier because it's important. It does lay a foundation for

[30:52] uh for the work that we're doing today in economic development. And I'm pleased

[30:55] to say that and if you if we want to go deep we can but I'm pleased to say that

[31:00] many of those strategies have actually been approved have been completed and or

[31:05] are currently underway. In terms of your question about this

[31:09] setting the foundation, I do agree that um the intent is to be proactive in our

[31:16] economic development work and recognize that we have an economic development

[31:20] strategy but one that's looking forward um that takes a look at a traditional

[31:26] approach to economic development. The economic development strategy of a few

[31:31] years ago I think has worked but really was coming out of the pandemic and our

[31:36] needs were different. We're in a post-pandemic economy so we have to

[31:39] recognize that um the private sector moves quickly as I was indicating

[31:46] earlier and staff and rather just the local government doesn't move as quickly

[31:50] as the market does. Um, I I would hope that at some point in the future, we can

[31:56] have a formal conversation about a revised economic development strategy

[32:00] that then becomes the work plan for Ruth and I.

[32:06] » Okay. >> Our client base is roughly 4,000

[32:09] businesses, brick and mortar. There are more businesses than that when it comes

[32:12] to um work from home and other types of businesses, but uh we we have limited

[32:20] capacity as well. But I I am excited about where we can go in 2027 and

[32:26] excited about your um retreat that you'll have in January. Same values,

[32:31] priorities, and objectives. And hopefully we can just continue to um

[32:36] build off of this foundation. >> Okay. So, there would be an updated plan

[32:39] in 2027 uh if the council priority continues to be business retention and

[32:45] economic development and all that. >> I I would hope so. But to get to your

[32:49] point, um I would like to dive deeper and better understand the city council's

[32:55] um uh desires and what is it that you want to accomplish as we move into a

[33:01] traditional economic development program. So we can have the the true

[33:05] strategies with the implementation actions. So I think that would be an

[33:09] important conversation. >> Okay.

[33:10] » With the city council, with the economic development committee and then council

[33:14] thereafter. >> Okay. Um I did have a couple of thoughts

[33:20] uh and I'd be curious for other council members thoughts about um new investment

[33:24] opportunities, property tax bases, uh the sort of office and commercial side

[33:29] of things. Um, in my mind, one of the biggest things we did this year was uh

[33:36] modify the shrink wrap rule such that buildings downtown could uh redevelop

[33:41] not in wild and extravagant ways with like massive amounts of new floor area,

[33:46] but just uh more basic reinvestment can sort of

[33:51] actually happen. Um, and that was something that we got from the sort of

[33:56] broader community. I think local architects have just brought that on

[34:00] their own. I think one of the really big opportunities is to see if there are

[34:05] other wins, other things we can sort of pick up like that. Uh other obstacles

[34:10] that we might have already heard from from different real estate professionals

[34:14] or different companies. And so that's uh the kind of thing that I was curious if

[34:21] you had heard anything about and the kind of thing I'd be interested in

[34:23] continuing next year um or continuing just as a direct consequence from these

[34:28] items. Um, another point that I'm not quite sure

[34:34] how to reconcile was I know way back earlier in the year policy and services

[34:38] committee had a discussion about uh in mixed use zones

[34:45] or maybe just in general discouraging office development. And so there's sort

[34:50] of one hand that says we want uh our companies to thrive and VCs to invest in

[34:57] startups and you know people to buy lunch in Palo Alto and whatnot. And then

[35:01] there's this other thread that says we want to uh

[35:06] uh both promote not just promote multif

[35:12] family housing but uh discourage office. And so where's the city landing on that?

[35:20] Uh what's the next step? And how when do we

[35:24] actually reconcile uh these two different urges?

[35:28] » Sure. Thanks, Council Member Buu. Um also, I forgot Kylie Nose, assistant

[35:33] city manager. I think you're really hitting on uh an inherent tension that

[35:38] we are going to continue to run up against um as an organization that we

[35:42] haven't necessarily really faced um as we've not been in an area of the level

[35:49] of development that we're looking at um in today's day and age. So actually I

[35:53] think one of the notes that you'll see and I think one of the public comments

[35:57] was extremely relevant of needing to do fiscal analysis when we're talking about

[36:02] land use. Um because ultimately and uh Mr. Andradi can explain in greater

[36:09] detail than I can but typically as you may imagine from a tax revenue

[36:13] projections and a tax revenue generation um housing typically obviously generates

[36:19] less tax revenue than is needed to provide the services. Whereas commercial

[36:24] uses will typically generate the tax base to help support your day-to-day

[36:30] population which includes those employees as well as your residential

[36:33] population. So as we're finding this balance between developing more housing

[36:39] as we need to, we also need to find the balance to make sure that 10 years from

[36:43] now our future selves are not kicking ourselves for eroding our economic base.

[36:49] So um I >> strong agree with that. Um I think the

[36:53] policy and services discussion from what I recall um

[36:58] uh

[37:01] you know was as equally focused on discouraging office as encouraging

[37:06] multif family. Uh and you know this is months ago so I'm not quite getting it

[37:10] right I'm sure but I'm just curious if there's a timeline for when

[37:14] » CD requirement that we had to talk about that.

[37:16] » Well >> that was a program that was in the

[37:18] house. >> Yes. Yes. We wanted

[37:20] » and when we talked about encouraging uh housing it was no we have to

[37:25] discourage this program was designed to discourage office.

[37:30] » Yes. And so and that was a little skewed just because that was the parameters of

[37:34] that study. >> Okay. So we had to study it but we don't

[37:37] necessarily have to follow up with that and

[37:40] » correct the direction to make those policy choices. Um, and

[37:46] obviously the questions you're asking I think are good ones and are hard to

[37:50] remember, right? As you were brought individual items. So really appreciate

[37:54] you being able to kind of cross reference. Um, this is going to come up

[37:57] as we look at everything from the more recent uh housing development projects,

[38:03] but also especially when we're thinking about coordinated area plans, right? Uh

[38:07] there was a a paragraph in the last uh staff report for the San Antonio area um

[38:12] where and if you recall council's conversation about San Antonio was do we

[38:17] want to maintain the same square footage? Do we want to maintain the same

[38:20] headcount? Do we want to you know of commercial space versus the housing and

[38:24] all of those decisions have real financial impacts. And so I think um as

[38:29] we make policy decisions, as you as a council body make policy decisions, um

[38:35] looking at each of the pieces but not losing the forest through the trees is

[38:38] going to be an important um tenant um and habit as we move through these

[38:44] individual decisions. >> Yeah. Can I please may I add to

[38:48] assistant city manager Jose? I agree with everything that uh she just shared.

[38:53] two two thoughts here and I'll use uh General Motors as an example because

[38:59] they signed recently a 340,000 square foot lease and um

[39:07] technology and the private sector continue to evolve. We we often talk

[39:12] about office here, but a company like GM doesn't just need office. They need

[39:18] rollup doors. They need flex space. It's R&D and office. So it's it's a variety

[39:23] of different types of employment lands and their needs.

[39:29] » So often times we we we talk about office here, but it's it's other

[39:34] commercial um types of real estate uh needs as well. And my last point is that

[39:40] housing and office and those commercial uses can

[39:45] coexist and and really need to our employment lands to just add to our

[39:51] assistant city manager nose. Employment lands ultimately help the city with

[39:56] long-term fiscal sustainability. >> Yeah,

[40:00] I totally understand that. Um uh just sort of visv the 2026 and 2027

[40:06] planning. Uh it's still not exactly clear like when if the you know housing

[40:12] element program that to discourage offices is actually coming back or when

[40:18] and how it might be reconciled with economic development.

[40:23] » Sure. Um and I think it um that's on that's a little bit of all of our

[40:28] responsibility, right? So, as the chair just mentioned, there are certain

[40:31] elements or programs within the housing element that staff do need to move

[40:36] through to abide by what we adopted. And as we move through those, I think it's

[40:41] incumbent on us and uh the council to make sure that as we're exploring those

[40:45] programs and what ultimately we may or may not want to adopt, weighing the

[40:49] economic impacts with the, you know, housing policy impacts and then making

[40:54] those decisions as each of those programs move through review. um in the

[40:59] context of the whole as opposed to pieces. So we are as staff making a

[41:03] conscious effort to make sure that um we are thinking through whether those

[41:07] programs come to this committee or policy and services and regardless of

[41:11] what committee they go to since they can't go to two. Um making sure our

[41:15] economic development team is plugged into our planning and development

[41:18] services team to make sure we're vetting things in that whole picture so that the

[41:23] council is best informed to make those policy calls. So, it's not going to be

[41:27] it's not like it's a singular here's the outcome, but as we move through each of

[41:32] these project reviews in alignment with our housing element, we will continue to

[41:36] bolster our internal coordination to help feed the council and community the

[41:41] information relevant to make those decisions.

[41:44] » Okay. >> And so, yes, that item is going to come

[41:46] back. Um, in fact, I think there are are other programs that are coming up as

[41:51] well, uh, associated with the housing element that we may even choose to bring

[41:55] to this committee instead of PNS. >> Um, and so it'll follow the normal

[41:59] process of committee and then full counsel.

[42:01] » Okay. All right. I can stay tuned for that. Um, last note just on the transit

[42:06] occup occupancy revenue base point. Um, uh, I know that you're going to talk

[42:12] with the top 25 or at least a significant chunk of the top 10

[42:17] businesses. Uh, I'm particularly interested in what comes out of that.

[42:22] I'm thinking about the Sherton Hotel, how it's a giant parking lot. I'm

[42:26] thinking about the Coronet Motel, which is amazing location on Calav, going to

[42:30] be uh has an SB79 development. So, it's going to be converted into housing. Uh,

[42:35] but there are plenty of other uh motel, hotels that are mostly just surface

[42:41] parking. Um, and from some conversations, it's just prohibitively

[42:47] intimidating to even think about redeveloping a hotel in Paul Alto. So,

[42:52] if we sort of get the parameters of what hotels really need and if we can sort of

[42:58] affirmatively put out there like, hey, we're going to

[43:02] we're interested potentially in uh uh some sort of program to promote the

[43:10] redevelopment or development of X hotels or X hotel square footage. I think that

[43:15] would be something I'd be interested in uh seeing if we learn anything about. Um

[43:22] because I love hotels. They have retail cafes. They get a lot of people who

[43:27] spend money on Calav and downtown. Um uh

[43:34] they have a lot of uh often quite good service jobs. So yeah, um would be

[43:39] interested in hotels as we follow up and talk about what's next in 2027.

[43:45] » Thank you. that's noted and agree with the the jobs and the uh

[43:51] the revenues of course >> agree.

[43:58] » Yeah, thank you. I think the the bra strategy is is a good one. I think this

[44:01] is a great starting point. Uh your presentation answered several of my

[44:06] questions. So, appreciate that. Uh couple areas I wanted to dive a little

[44:11] deeper into like on promotions and marketing [clears throat]

[44:17] goes into kind of 2026 activities. We're already 3/4ers of the way through the

[44:22] through the year. Um so kind of starting to look towards maybe end of the year

[44:28] and 2027 opportunities.

[44:31] Are there are there plans to try to activate some more of our shopping

[44:38] districts over the holidays? I I've known we've know we've tried things over

[44:42] the last couple years that I I think have helped. I I think we still fall

[44:48] short of just so many other that so many other cities.

[44:53] uh what um what Los Altos does for I can't remember what they call it, but

[45:00] it's like a whole there's a whole night of holiday shopping. Um um I don't know.

[45:06] I'd love to see like European style Christmas markets on on Calav or just

[45:12] other opportunities or I mean Ramona Street would be a gorgeous location for

[45:16] something like like that. I mean, people tend to really love popup events and

[45:20] especially when we can tie them into holiday and and shopping. I just think

[45:23] there's more opportunities for us to to do that.

[45:30] Thank you for the the comments and um please know that we have not forgotten

[45:35] about the popup uh retail conversation and that's something that um we've

[45:40] started having some conversations with some property owners and we're we're

[45:43] learning about that. Um as it relates to activating or promoting other business

[45:50] districts that too is incredibly important for us too. Um, we do spend

[45:55] quite a bit of time on Calab and in our downtown. And that's not to say that,

[46:00] um, we're not tracking or monitoring other business districts around the

[46:04] city. We we are. Uh, oftent times it can be based on need. Uh, for example,

[46:10] there's a there's a local grocery store that uh is needing assistance. So, that

[46:14] has been one of the things that's driving us to this particular business

[46:19] district uh for a business retention effort. Um so so yes we uh staff we like

[46:26] to be out on field and and visit the different business districts. To your uh

[46:30] comment about just overall activation whether it's holidays or other types of

[46:36] uh seasonal type events. Yes, that is something that we would like to further

[46:42] explore. um and perhaps something in 2027 just based on conversations we're

[46:46] having here to give us ample time for planning and coordinating things of that

[46:52] nature. >> Okay. Well, yeah,

[46:54] » council member, I'll just add it is important to note that many of those

[46:59] that you've seen around are not organized by the city jurisdiction, but

[47:03] by a business improvement district that has a governing board that will choose

[47:07] to spend that time and invest in something like that or their local

[47:10] chamber of commerce. So, an event like you're describing um like a winter

[47:15] holiday market on the larger scale are typically ones that would be done in

[47:20] partnership with another organization, which I think is another reason why the

[47:25] Brea strategy has that foundation of wanting to move forward with um

[47:30] reinvigorating the downtown business improvement district as another

[47:34] community member mentioned, right? We need to demonstrate the value for them

[47:38] and help them u navigate that. Uh but I think that's the other thing to realize

[47:43] in terms of capacity and where that energy can lie.

[47:49] » Yeah. No, I think it's it's a good it's a good point, but also see like what

[47:55] we're capable of when the city seems to convene these like like Thursday live

[47:59] and and so bringing those partnerships but kind of seems like the city

[48:04] » could maybe convene those and and push that forward. We need those

[48:08] organizations to convene I think is I guess where I'm identifying like we

[48:12] don't have a downtown bid. It's been on pause. So we need to get those

[48:17] organizations running so that we can convene them to move forward cuz for

[48:22] example Thursday live yes we make that convening um we are that convenor but we

[48:28] do rely on PARF to actually produce the event right. So we need to find that

[48:33] partner or establish that partner um in order to move through the larger scale.

[48:39] So I think what I'm hearing is is that there's a desire to continue down that

[48:42] path so that we can build on it to hold those larger events.

[48:46] » And that's in the strategy. >> It's foundationally in the strategy of

[48:52] building up our work with the chamber, building up potentially reinvigorating

[48:56] that downtown business improvement district. Um and by hosting regular

[49:01] connections with the different business districts, it is forming a routinized

[49:07] cadence to help them coordinate and organize together cuz it has to be that

[49:12] partnership, right? The city can't just be the only one um leaning in. So I

[49:16] think that's you know these are stepping stones as uh Mr. Andradi said

[49:20] identifying the relationships getting them getting everybody to understand the

[49:23] value of that coordination and then building as you build in the governance

[49:27] the investment and the programs. >> Sounds good.

[49:30] » Awesome. >> Thank you. Um and then on enhancing kind

[49:36] of the PaloAlto brand um

[49:44] I think that seem I think that sounds like a a good idea. I think I have a

[49:49] better sense of what you what you mean by that. I know something we've, you

[49:53] know, kind of talked about over the years as well is

[49:58] um kind of literally leaning into kind of the PaloAlto brand and ways in which

[50:06] we can almost market it in in ways and whether that's partnering with another

[50:14] group or selling our own kind of PaloAlto swag. I mean, I've I've noticed

[50:18] at at times when other stores have have done that that has been like Patagonia

[50:23] and did kind of a some sweatshirts and things with the PaloAlto uh with Palo

[50:29] Alto on it. And I've heard that that was like really popular. And if I go around,

[50:35] it's I know um I have this there's this there's this

[50:41] great brand in California. They make hats with like cities kind of on them

[50:46] and they do it for just all. Anytime I've gone around and I've worn it,

[50:51] people are excited about it. Well, where did you get that? So, I think there was

[50:54] an an interest in in that and I don't think we've ever leaned into it. I know

[50:59] I think it's a small piece of this, but I'd love I'd love to see that kind of

[51:04] built out a little more. I I think there's a demand for it. Um

[51:08] » Yeah. Thank you. And I even saw was Walgreens had some

[51:15] PaloAlto swag and it was Yeah, somebody I think

[51:20] my wife bought me a It's It is not good quality. I've never [snorts]

[51:24] I have never worn it. It's terrible. So, but even they're getting into it. I've

[51:30] never I've never gone into a Walgreens in any other city that had swag of that.

[51:34] So, I think there's there's a real desire for it out there. Um, and then

[51:38] finally, I've always been kind of surprised that we don't lean into more

[51:42] to the history of Silicon Valley and creating this as a as a destination. And

[51:48] there's so many incredible points of interest just right here in downtown.

[51:53] And it's hard to show it off and there's small little plaques and nothing of it's

[52:00] it's hard when I when I like when I travel around the world where people

[52:04] want to come to Palo Alto and Silicon Valley and I always have to kind of like

[52:07] say like yeah it's a great place but there's also I don't know how you would

[52:11] get around and see these things as a as a tourist. Um and and so yeah, I I think

[52:16] there's opportunities there to increase an interest in tourism and making it a

[52:20] little easier to be able to find those points of interest and celebrate it. And

[52:25] um so so I think that kind that could go into enhancing the PaloAlto brand.

[52:32] If I may, uh, just as an example, Cal Train reached out to economic

[52:37] development and they've started this promotion where at every Cal Train stop,

[52:43] they are adding interest points and things to do, shop, um, dine on their

[52:49] website. And so they reached out to us and I provided an interest point for

[52:53] downtown, the museum, the HP garage, a variety of course of hotels and uh,

[52:59] retail and restaurants. And so that I thought was a very creative way of

[53:04] utilizing the train stops. And here for us, Cal Train, this is the second um

[53:10] highest used Cal Train line after uh San Francisco's uh Fourth and King station.

[53:17] So uh things like that, just walking tours would be something that's

[53:21] interested. Our um website that we're working on or chamber working on will

[53:26] have a aspect where you can plan your day. And so it it will have an

[53:32] interactive approach to a variety of uh places to visit interest points from the

[53:38] bay to the hillside. So we look forward to sharing more of that when it's ready.

[53:44] » Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that. >> Okay. Thank you.

[53:50] » Okay. Uh I'll comment on some comments my colleagues have made. Events I

[53:55] totally agree. I think like Pride event downtown that was a really good social

[54:00] event and we we had so many people crammed on King Hall King Plaza was a

[54:06] really good use of our space and having more events like that whether they be

[54:10] here or Ramona. Uh it'd be great like on Thrive City up in the city, they will

[54:14] have sporting events on the big screen and people will just come and sit down

[54:17] and it becomes a social event and they'll have some food trucks there and

[54:21] but they the big thing is that you're coming watching this event and instead

[54:24] of watching it at home you're watching it with your friends or with the rest of

[54:28] the community and that's a really good thing. So anything we do to encourage

[54:32] that? Uh we had the art walk. Uh do you have any information on how well that

[54:38] worked? I wanted to come down but I missed that date.

[54:42] » Let's see if if Guom is still here. There is a series where Guom uh is is

[54:48] partnering with Pamela Walsh of of Pamela Walsh Galleries. It's a uh

[54:54] monthly series that I think goes through November. Um

[54:59] there has been one and I heard from Miss Walsh that it was very successful. I

[55:04] think there were five participating galleries and we're all uh excited about

[55:10] Hower and Worth opening on October 3rd. So that would be a new stop and from

[55:16] what I understand every art gallery that's participating in the art walk

[55:21] would also then intend to have a downtown restaurant that is providing

[55:25] food at the art at the art galleries and and potential promotions there. So it's

[55:31] it's a priv it's a partnership. come up here and talk if you want.

[55:35] » You come to a mic so you can

[55:40] » Yeah, we change a little bit of our strategy on that. We have a website

[55:42] that's been created that will be published hopefully next week. Um, and

[55:47] we do have all uh five galleries and then Hower and Worth. Like I said, I'm

[55:51] doing their event October 3rd. Um, so that's their opening weekend. It's a

[55:57] Saturday, I think. Um, but uh five gall are on there. If you visit one gallery

[56:03] and get a stamp, then you can go to participating food service

[56:06] establishments and get a discount. I think it's going to be 20% off an

[56:10] appetizer or a coffee. [snorts] So, obviously, my two restaurants are there.

[56:14] Uh, Osteria is is participating. Uh, Nancy is as

[56:19] well. And then the coffee shop next to it. Rob Fischer has not texted me back,

[56:23] so it's been a week. Um, but if I see him in the streets, I will bother him

[56:30] about this. We want to try to keep it within the blocks of the galleries. So,

[56:33] that's the idea. Um, and whether um galleries want to partner with a

[56:39] restaurant to provide wine or beer or non-alcoholic beverages, they're welcome

[56:43] to, but we didn't want to have to manage that part. So, that's kind of up to the

[56:47] galleries. Um, otherwise, you visit a gallery, get a stamp, and go get your

[56:51] discount. >> And the city through communications does

[56:56] also help to market the >> Okay, that was the next thing. Is there

[56:59] something that the city can do to help us?

[57:01] » Yeah, as soon as I get this website, it's done, but as soon as I get approved

[57:05] by the other the galleries, um because everybody has an opinion as you well

[57:10] know. Um then we'll have it up and then we can provide a link for you. Um it's a

[57:14] very simple site with a map and what we're doing.

[57:16] » Did you have to do any permits or was this just

[57:18] » No, because it's not it's not existing anywhere other than within the units

[57:22] themselves. >> Okay. you know, so um

[57:26] I think in the future we'd love to have maybe, you know, it's a seasonal, we're

[57:32] thinking about it as a seasonal series. So there'll be fall um like summer,

[57:35] fall, and then spring summer with breaks in between so we don't kind of

[57:40] oversaturate the market. Um and also the rainy months just aren't great for doing

[57:44] stuff like this. Um, and if once a season we can have an event that spills

[57:49] over onto Ramona Street, maybe I uh invite some wineries to participate.

[57:54] Obviously, again, this is um like you were saying, it's a lot harder than it

[57:58] sounds getting all this together, but I think the housing worth block party will

[58:03] be a good test for that. And if we could repeat a block party that's around the

[58:07] art walk at some point maybe. But um obviously we would need sponsors and

[58:11] someone to you know spearhead this whole thing which is uh just harder than it

[58:16] looks.

[58:19] » Have you looked at all like big screens on Ramona? Is that feasible economically

[58:24] or is that just too hard to do? >> Uh so I have we have screens on Ramona

[58:29] during the World Cup and we'll have them probably during football season. Um,

[58:35] so big screens on Ramona would have been a licensing with FIFA or a lawsuit. Um,

[58:41] I mean the problem now honestly is that everybody wants my money. Uh, so

[58:46] anything you do, the NFL is going to want a piece of it. Um, you know, it's

[58:51] just um it's just endless. Um, but so again, if we had a partner,

[58:59] well, I mean, I'll tell you, gambling sites are contacting us now.

[59:05] It's not something we're necessarily interested in, but we are talking to

[59:08] them to see what their thoughts are. Um, it's not really within our values, but,

[59:13] you know, uh, these days, you know, you got to do what you got to do. So, you

[59:18] know, if there's partnerships and people want to pay for a screen and a city

[59:21] wants to approve having a bunch of people out there for Monday Night

[59:25] Football or whatever it may be, but you know, all this takes money and manpower

[59:30] and permits. Um, and uh, well, I've done my fair share of permitting in Palo

[59:35] Alto, so if I can avoid doing that, I will. [laughter] Um, but you know, it's

[59:42] a cool idea. Um, but everybody needs to be on board so that we're not, you know,

[59:48] constantly hitting up against a wall, you know. And I think like, you know,

[59:51] when you talk to people individually, whether it's the fire department, police

[59:55] department, every everybody wants to help, you know. Um, I think it gets

[59:59] complicated when they're not talking to each other and nobody's kind of leading

[1:00:03] the charge. But, um, for the most part, everybody's very helpful, you know.

[1:00:08] uh sometimes contradictory, but it's another conversation.

[1:00:13] » Well, talk to Alex and Ruth. [laughter] Need need help. They're here to help.

[1:00:18] They're from the government and they're here to help. So, okay. Uh next, George

[1:00:24] talked about the hotels. Yeah. I I think design standards have changed, right? It

[1:00:29] what used to be a big hotel is now kind of considered small. and make sure that

[1:00:33] our hotel design standards are evolving because if you have a a small hotel

[1:00:39] that's, you know, making some money, you don't really have a big incentive to

[1:00:42] knock it down and build something bigger. And so we really need to take a

[1:00:46] look at say what what design standards are right for the hotels and do we you

[1:00:54] know what what other cities have to attract new who new new hotel money and

[1:00:59] what do hotel operators some of these smaller hotels especially in El Camino

[1:01:03] what do they need to make it worthwhile for them to upgrade because when they

[1:01:07] knock down a hotel and build a new one they have more rooms they're newer rooms

[1:01:12] higher cost stays and so that helps us economically. So we should make sure

[1:01:18] that we're talking to them. Okay. And then office space. Yes. Uh

[1:01:24] that's a sticky issue because uh yeah, we don't want to be anti-off

[1:01:29] and and not evolve, but we also have to be very judicious and and selective of

[1:01:36] what we say because we have a 3 to one jobs housing imbalance. And you know,

[1:01:42] housing is an enabler for jobs. It it it if you have available housing

[1:01:49] uh that's re appropriately priced, you're going to be able to attract jobs

[1:01:55] more in offices. But if I mean that's one of the big things of this whole

[1:01:59] region is that it housing is so expensive that people don't want to move

[1:02:02] here. And so then what happens is the only people can move here are the really

[1:02:07] high-end. So you would end up with a very skewed community. So we have to be

[1:02:12] really careful about not just saying, "Oh yeah, jobs are good." Because jobs

[1:02:16] are more lucrative than housing. And so we have to be careful that we don't have

[1:02:19] a disincentive for housing because we need a balanced

[1:02:23] and this uh that's how we got to be a 3-1 is we didn't care about uh creating

[1:02:29] keeping a balanced community. So that's um we can't ignore our jobs, housing,

[1:02:35] and balance. Okay. So, now back to the I'm off my soap box now. Be careful if

[1:02:42] you wind me up here. Um, uh, packet page eight, you talk about

[1:02:47] talking with at least three of 25 sales tax generators.

[1:02:53] Uh, why I mean, I would think that we'd want to talk to as many as we could. It

[1:02:57] says up to three, I believe was said. And yes, the reason being is that we

[1:03:03] were in initially intending to be before you in March and recognizing that we're

[1:03:09] moving into September, I reduced that number in order for staff to be able to

[1:03:14] achieve this by the end of the year. So, we can definitely I believe meet with

[1:03:19] three of the top 25 sales tax generators. Uh recently, city manager

[1:03:25] and assistant city manager and I had a conversation with uh with SpaceX and the

[1:03:29] real estate team. So that is a corporate visit I would [clears throat] say. Um if

[1:03:34] we were at the beginning of the year the outreach number would be larger would be

[1:03:39] Yeah. >> So yes we would like to increase that

[1:03:42] number. I'm just this is meant for the calendar year 202.

[1:03:46] » Okay. >> Yeah.

[1:03:47] » Yeah. >> Also council member and committee I'll

[1:03:50] just remind you you're looking at your economic development team. So the Brea

[1:03:54] strategy along with the council priorities and the underlying need to

[1:03:58] just make sure we're facilitating um business applications through the

[1:04:03] permitting process at in an efficient uh and clip uh certain clip to maintain the

[1:04:09] business time um I can't find my words today. Um is a large body of work for

[1:04:17] two people. So bear in mind this strategy and as much as I hear the wants

[1:04:22] from the committee members, we also are looking at a capacity issue. Um so

[1:04:26] making sure we're building the foundation and using our resources in

[1:04:30] the most efficient and effective fashion.

[1:04:32] » Yeah, I I appreciate that comment. I just always worried about being

[1:04:38] isolated and not knowing what the business community needs. And so I want

[1:04:42] to interact, but I agree that there may be things that are higher priority. Uh

[1:04:48] the real estate assets, I think that's a really good idea. If we have and

[1:04:52] especially if there's empty space that's not being used, renting that out to a

[1:04:57] hotel, that may encourage people to come to the hotel, which gains us money, but

[1:05:02] we also can then rent the spaces out and get money. So, it's a win-win. So, I

[1:05:05] really like that idea. >> And I would add it also activates

[1:05:09] certain levels of garage structures. And by activating the uh certain levels, it

[1:05:15] can detour u graffiti and other activities that uh sometimes we see

[1:05:21] around town. Uh that's a good segue. Next question is uh about homeless

[1:05:27] people and crime and things like that. Uh do we have a good feeling? Are people

[1:05:34] in the especially downtown content with this status quo or is it I mean I when

[1:05:40] we talked when we had that coffee over a couple months ago that people were

[1:05:44] really irritated and I suspect that things haven't changed.

[1:05:49] » [clears throat] >> Let me start by saying that if our

[1:05:51] police chief was here, he would remind uh us all that there are a couple of

[1:05:56] officers that are now on the street based on a grant related to retail

[1:06:02] theft. And so we're moving in the right direction in

[1:06:07] that respect. That grant I believe is expected to expire in about a year. Um

[1:06:13] so another plug for the business improvement district, which I think is

[1:06:16] important. Um I think it just depends on who uh is at the table in terms of their

[1:06:22] experience and um sharing of yeah what what's been happening. We heard from

[1:06:29] Guom earlier uh he gave us an example of of uh recent activity and so um

[1:06:37] clearly I mean we want to appreciate and and understand that this is happening

[1:06:41] especially with particular businesses. I won't I don't need to mention the names.

[1:06:46] Um but uh homelessness uh crime and um use of drugs has been reported to the

[1:06:55] economic development team. We often remind the business owners to ensure to

[1:07:01] report and as they report this to the police department, it just creates an

[1:07:07] opportunity for bundling these citations. the district attorney has an

[1:07:11] opportunity to then look at it from a from a

[1:07:15] from a more macro level perspective. And um a district attorney

[1:07:20] participated in our in last week's the week before uh downtown and uh

[1:07:25] University Avenue stakeholder and he helped um share information related to

[1:07:31] that process. So yes, it it exists and we're working through it. I will pause

[1:07:37] there and look to our assistant city manager in case she has anything to

[1:07:40] share and or Ruth. >> Sure. I think I'll just um acknowledge

[1:07:45] that there it's a challenging area um and there are concerns in the business

[1:07:51] community that staff continue to hear on a monthly basis and similar to the

[1:07:55] conversation that council had on Monday about oversized vehicles and how to

[1:07:59] manage that um challenging and vexing situation. There's no silver bullet.

[1:08:05] There's no this is what's going to fix it all. Um but what we can commit to is

[1:08:09] is that we continue to listen to the businesses, adapt and adjust. Our police

[1:08:14] resources are out there um trying to educate both the businesses, their

[1:08:19] staff, and um using what resources we do have to manage um the situation. And um

[1:08:28] I think it will continue obviously to be a challenge. Um, but I do think we're

[1:08:33] committed to continuing to hear and do our best to address.

[1:08:37] » Yeah. It also comes down to resources. Again, it does, right? The the chief,

[1:08:41] we're asking him to do a lot. OSDs has really taxed the the police department.

[1:08:46] » Yeah. The grant that uh Mr. Andrade is identifying is a really helpful piece.

[1:08:51] Um because typically we would use our special projects detail of police

[1:08:55] staffing to help with some of these issues, but we've got them almost fully

[1:09:00] dedicated to helping with the oversized vehicles programming. Um and work that

[1:09:06] we are doing there in terms of monitoring and citations and the like.

[1:09:10] And so this grant enables us when we have officers that can come in on

[1:09:14] overtime to do retail details basically in the downtown area uh to help bolster

[1:09:20] staffing. Obviously it depends on staffing availability. So it's not

[1:09:23] consistent but it is a really helpful resource that we're able to add and

[1:09:27] support but uh until the funding runs out.

[1:09:30] » Okay. Thank you. That's all I have. George or Greer? Any follow-ups? Okay.

[1:09:38] Do you want anything you want to add or you you said your piece?

[1:09:41] » Yes. Uh we've been taking notes and really appreciate the questions and your

[1:09:47] thoughtful process and making sure we have a a solid foundation for economic

[1:09:51] development moving forward. Thank you. >> I I did have one one thing I I missed.

[1:09:55] Uh so Thursday Night Live, we get a lot of people there. Uh are we getting those

[1:10:00] people to go to the restaurants or are they just hanging out?

[1:10:04] And I've heard initially when Third Thursday started, I had heard reports

[1:10:09] that the some of the restaurants weren't thrilled because they weren't getting

[1:10:12] the business they expected. What we've been seeing is that uh 5:00 p.m. start

[1:10:19] time might be a little early, but come around 5:45 6:15 things are really busy

[1:10:25] on Calab. both regarding people that are there for the

[1:10:31] music and listening and dancing along with the music, but also restaurant

[1:10:36] patrons. So last month at the winewalk by

[1:10:43] yeah by 6:30 Kal was as busy as I've seen it in my

[1:10:48] eight months of working with the city of Palo Alto. So each consecutive

[1:10:54] activation of the entertainment zone as well as Thursday live, we're seeing more

[1:10:58] and more people come onto the street. >> Okay.

[1:11:00] » We're just having to rightsize the start time

[1:11:05] » and the um entertainment zone that's been

[1:11:09] working well. Um it has and yes, going back to last month, it was a wine walk.

[1:11:14] So uh businesses like Vina Wine uh did really well. We're hearing from other

[1:11:20] businesses that it's uh it's definitely trending in the right direction.

[1:11:26] Tomorrow we'll start the survey so we'll have data to share with you and have

[1:11:31] more data and anecdotal information to share. But yes.

[1:11:36] » Okay. Thank you. Okay. We'll move on to the next item then.

[1:11:40] » I believe staff you would like a motion to approve this.

[1:11:45] » Yes. Motion. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking this was

[1:11:48] just study. >> We'd like to get uh well, we want to

[1:11:51] make sure we get um to the city council for for consideration and hopefully

[1:11:57] approve. >> Okay, we have a motion.

[1:12:01] » I'll move the staff recommendation. Second.

[1:12:05] » Okay, cler can take a vote.

[1:12:23] Okay. Vice Mayor Stone, >> yes.

[1:12:27] » Chair Rectal, >> yes.

[1:12:28] » Council member L. >> Yes.

[1:12:29] » Vote. A motion carries unanimously. >> Okay. Thank you. And now we will move on

[1:12:36] to the economic development report activity activity report for August.

[1:12:45] » [snorts] >> Correct. All committee members, thank

[1:12:47] you for your time today. I'll be going over the economic development activity

[1:12:51] report for August.

[1:12:54] » Get to the second slide. >> This is a area. I'm getting

[1:13:00] kind of scary. Is there a sea level? Somebody left me a car. My brother my

[1:13:06] school left me a card. My brother left me a card or someone community doesn't

[1:13:11] want me to go. >> Where is C14 in this garage?

[1:13:24] » Thank you. >> Go ahead.

[1:13:27] » Awesome. We'll go ahead started. Uh so for business updates, uh general updates

[1:13:31] for just what's happening around town is destination marketing. marketing like

[1:13:34] Alex mentioned uh we are working with the chamber and our hotel layers to get

[1:13:39] um that information on there and what we should be promoting and looking into

[1:13:43] further. Um and so again hoping for that end of year implementation. Uh next is

[1:13:48] the festival of arts happened this past week. Um if you were there it was just a

[1:13:52] great turnout. Saw a lot of people on the streets. I'm still trying to get

[1:13:56] metrics on whether or not it was successful for the businesses of

[1:13:59] patreons going inside um their business, but there was an about 1500 at a time um

[1:14:06] for both days. So, it's great to see a vibrancy in downtown. Um next we have

[1:14:11] our BTS concert um back in May. Um so, we got about 152 local and non-local

[1:14:20] attendees. Um so about 41% of them were local regionally um and 59 um attendees

[1:14:28] were uh non-local and so we're working with Stanford to get a better um better

[1:14:33] insight on what that impact looks like directly for the city of Palto.

[1:14:38] Jumping into California Avenue like Alex mentioned our next event is tomorrow

[1:14:43] from 5 to 8. Hope to see you all there. um excited again to kick off our

[1:14:48] entertainment zone uh for the third time. Um to Alex's point, we've just

[1:14:52] seen a lot of people engaging and and being excited for it. Um you'll see on

[1:14:57] the image on the top at the bottom right um one of the employees um that

[1:15:02] implementing that wristband getting the cups and you can just see the stir um in

[1:15:07] on calav the excitement behind that. and to Alex's point and mentioned um we will

[1:15:12] be evaluating the entertainment zone as this is something that we're hoping to

[1:15:16] consider for other business districts and also look into California Avenue um

[1:15:22] for the dining program implementation. There's a couple pieces to this. Uh we

[1:15:26] have a repaving happening September 28th uh to October 10th. Um that is something

[1:15:31] that we're proactively working with our businesses to make sure that they're

[1:15:34] aware of this and the impacts that are coming to the street. Um, and this goes

[1:15:38] handinhand with the implementation of the guidelines. Um, we want to make sure

[1:15:42] that as soon as the repaving is completed, um, that all of our

[1:15:47] businesses come into compliance um, with the guidelines. Um, and so we've been

[1:15:52] meeting with our stakeholders um, and letting them know that we're here and

[1:15:55] ready to support them to go through their permitting process um, as we know

[1:15:59] that it could be quite a cool to implement new items. Uh, next slide,

[1:16:04] please.

[1:16:09] Um and with that we're also tracking business openings. Uh so we had best uh

[1:16:14] Beastro Demia open back in June. A lot of movement and excitement there. We had

[1:16:19] uh Marv Grammen open on University Avenue um in July. Uh and we also had

[1:16:25] the Card Vault um open in Town and Country uh two weekends ago and they had

[1:16:30] a special appearance. Tom Brady was there. Um so a lot of movement and

[1:16:33] traction there. Um we also like you heard through conver previous uh item

[1:16:39] Hower and Worth is opening up October 3rd. We're proactively working with them

[1:16:43] through their special event permit ensuring that we're working at their

[1:16:46] pace um and getting that forward. Um, and we also have a Vietnamese restaurant

[1:16:51] coming to town, Mason, um, Mison Saigon, um, that is going through the permitting

[1:16:56] process again, facilitating that with them, making the introduction as

[1:16:59] economic development, uh, that we are a resource to get them through the

[1:17:03] process. Um, and so with that, we have with business openings comes um, the

[1:17:09] employment and labor force behind that. And so this is just a metric we've been

[1:17:13] just tracking to see what has kind of been happening um in our area um as well

[1:17:18] as regionally. And so we observed a drop in employment between June of last year

[1:17:23] to June of this year. And we also observed that we are the six sixth

[1:17:29] largest um employ employer um within the Santa Clara County. Um and [snorts] so

[1:17:35] we're tracking that closely. Next slide please. So

[1:17:39] » the labor force that's the people that live in Palo Alto that are available to

[1:17:44] work. >> Yes.

[1:17:47] » Okay. >> Yeah. Gotcha.

[1:17:49] » Employment of those individuals that are actually employed.

[1:17:52] » Okay. Gotcha. >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:17:55] » Next slide, please. Awesome. And we're also tracking retail

[1:18:00] property metrics. Um so quarter 2 of 2026, we're seeing an average annual

[1:18:06] asking rate. Um for the downtown area, we saw um a minor increase from quarter

[1:18:12] 2 of 2025 to quarter 2 of 2026. So it was about less than a dollar there. Uh

[1:18:17] for retail vacancy rates, uh we saw a minor decrease um from now showing 12.3%

[1:18:24] to last year 12.9. Um as well as our retail square footage available um

[1:18:30] showing a decrease of uh about roughly 5 56,000 there. Um, and then our net

[1:18:37] absorption was positive, meaning that there's a lot of demand for space. Um,

[1:18:42] and it's hard to accommodate as we go. Um, as for Calav, we're we were able to

[1:18:47] track the average annual asking retail rent. Um, the metric wasn't available to

[1:18:52] us, but again, happy to report on it back um at our next meeting. Um, our

[1:18:56] retail vacancy rate, we're showing a decrease um from 5.4% that is now to

[1:19:02] last year was 7.5%. Um, so that's about one one and a half

[1:19:08] to 2% there. Um, for retail square square footage available, we also saw a

[1:19:13] decrease from uh 17,000 approximately where we're at now to last year of

[1:19:19] 22,000 approximately. Um, and our net absorption uh was a negative um one. So

[1:19:26] again, more spaces um have become available. So with that, next slide,

[1:19:31] please. We conclude the presentation. So I'll open up for Q&A.

[1:19:42] Okay, >> there are no requests to speak for item

[1:19:45] two. >> Okay, any questions?

[1:19:51] » Just do do we know do we know the total economic impact on Palo Alto from

[1:19:57] certain special events like the BTS concert or or World Cup activation? I

[1:20:03] mean, do we do we have a dollar amount from that?

[1:20:07] » We don't. And so, that's something that we're actually interested as well to

[1:20:10] track and see what impacts it has. Um, especially knowing that Stanford is

[1:20:14] interested in more events in the future. Um, so that's conversations we've had.

[1:20:18] » Okay. >> Um, as for direct for promotions for

[1:20:21] World Cup, I don't believe so. and Alex can jump in if

[1:20:28] » at the moment we do not have that information but we will reach out to the

[1:20:31] Bay Area host committee um which is the partner that we've been working with for

[1:20:36] a couple of years now we heard earlier um in reference to licensing fees and

[1:20:42] things of that nature um I don't think that data is available for FIFA

[1:20:49] however um anecdotally we have heard from our restaurants bars. Earlier in

[1:20:54] the presentation, there was a matchwatch uh flyer and at the bottom was a list of

[1:20:59] those uh businesses. I've talked to them directly and they did better than

[1:21:06] expected. >> Okay.

[1:21:07] » Um I don't have actual data numbers, but just a casual conversation about how

[1:21:13] FIFA um during the month-long event and was very positive.

[1:21:19] » Okay. You know, I I think be helpful to know all this given with the with the

[1:21:23] Olympics coming up and likely more concerts from from Stanford, just

[1:21:28] continue to understand what what worked, what what didn't, and how can we

[1:21:32] continue to to um really lean into that because we have a lot of special

[1:21:36] exciting opportunities coming up. >> Yeah. From an economic perspective,

[1:21:40] we're very interested in looking at the direct, indirect, and the induced cost.

[1:21:45] One thing that I feel like we're not getting is the true direct Paulo Alto um

[1:21:52] uh positive externality number. I'm sure it's positive. I just can't say at this

[1:21:58] point in time how positive. Uh but that is something that we're seeking as well

[1:22:03] from a data perspective. Yeah. >> Yeah. I' I've had several just of the

[1:22:07] interest around BTS. I've had several people ask me what it was the economic

[1:22:11] impact on on PaloAlto. So, I know there's also, I think, just a general

[1:22:15] community interest in in this. >> Also, I will say, speaking of of BTS

[1:22:20] alone, our downtown hotel core did very well. Uh, we meet with our hotel general

[1:22:27] managers on a monthly basis. And again, in many respects, around the table,

[1:22:32] they're in competition with one another, but overall, the uh communication was um

[1:22:37] that the three concert dates did really well for local hotels. And so from a

[1:22:43] toot perspective, I think from a granular level, we can only get down to

[1:22:48] the monthly toot um uh data set, but we can do a

[1:22:55] comparison to around the same time the year before or compare it to how um

[1:23:01] Coldplay did on the month of May 2025 for example, just to see the increase uh

[1:23:07] or the comparable. So that's something we we're interested in tracking as well.

[1:23:11] Yeah. No, I think I think it would be I think it'd be worth to do. So, I mean I

[1:23:15] think we all felt the energy in the in the city of the time. No, they're no

[1:23:19] boys, but [laughter]

[1:23:23] just saying and better. But um but it was fun. I I enjoy

[1:23:30] what >> Oh, I had tickets but didn't end up but

[1:23:35] I've gone to the sphere so it was so okay. I'm a BTS fan as well. Don't want

[1:23:42] anyone coming after me cuz I know that's [clears throat] the BTS army could be

[1:23:46] scary. >> I know it's already piling up. No. Yes,

[1:23:51] BTS was great. I enjoyed it. All right, I'm going to stop talking now.

[1:23:58] » Okay, George. Uh, just a quick question. I'm curious uh if it is low lift for

[1:24:05] staff and included in our co-star subscription so on to get data for the

[1:24:10] city overall um uh or the city overall excluding downtown and calav um

[1:24:19] and I could go on about you know the different data segments I'd be

[1:24:22] interested in but uh is that something we could get in future reports?

[1:24:26] Yeah, if you don't mind being a little bit more specific on what you would like

[1:24:29] to see. Are you interested in retail vacancy or Yeah, I think what generally

[1:24:35] are >> uh retail vacancies, um net absorption,

[1:24:42] uh uh asking rents if available. I think

[1:24:46] those would be top of mind. Um, I

[1:24:52] don't want to create too much work where you have to like, you know, we're very

[1:24:57] particular about like the questions we have about retail. So, I don't want you

[1:25:00] to have to like draw different polygons for like every

[1:25:04] for like 10 different polygons and report them. But, uh, uh, so I'm sort of

[1:25:09] agnostic as to how the data is exactly um, presented. But yeah, getting a sense

[1:25:16] of outside of downtown and calav would be useful. Um, you know, we're past

[1:25:22] these conver I I I sense that we're likely past these conversations from a

[1:25:26] couple years ago about um serious hand ringing about vacancies and thinking

[1:25:32] about vacancy taxes and thinking about uh uh just a lot of hand ringing. Um uh

[1:25:39] but it'd be useful just to get that data. Uh

[1:25:44] um yeah, great minds think alike. That was my

[1:25:49] question too is how much work is it like on slide four there? Because if it's not

[1:25:53] much work, uh when we were on PTC, we had the report of downtown Calav

[1:25:59] University and Midtown. And the thing that was surprising to a lot of people

[1:26:04] was that El Camino, dumpy old El Camino, had the lowest vacancies of all the city

[1:26:10] and also the lowest rents, which is probably why they had the lowest

[1:26:13] vacancies. But that's always good information. So to have the the rents

[1:26:16] and the vacancies for those areas and we also got uh Menllo Park, Los Altos, and

[1:26:22] Castro Street. And that was nice to see how like because back then university

[1:26:28] wasn't doing quite as well but we were doing better than the Castro which made

[1:26:30] us think okay we're not an outlier this is a general issue with retail. So if

[1:26:35] that's not too much work I would love to see that data.

[1:26:38] » Yeah definitely explore Paul Alto as a whole and then we can just go from there

[1:26:43] for >> if you think that's being too

[1:26:45] timeconuming don't do it but uh if if it's easy I would love that.

[1:26:49] If I may, just to uh [clears throat] be specific so we know what to produce.

[1:26:55] We're looking at um similar type of data that's on the screen, but including

[1:27:00] other business districts in Palo Alto. Is [clears throat] that that maybe the

[1:27:05] primary thing is yes, we could do this, >> have a polygon for El Camino and one for

[1:27:10] Midtown. That would be the first ask. A nice to have would be comparison to

[1:27:16] Castro Street or Menllo Park and and that would be because then that shows

[1:27:22] that are there common issues or or we doing something wrong.

[1:27:25] » Yeah. Okay. That's I think definitely doable uh within Palo Alto. We'll see

[1:27:31] what we can do in comparison to >> use cities to the north and the south. I

[1:27:36] do think that um given the San Antonio area plan, this would be uh an important

[1:27:42] exercise for economic development to have a better understanding of what's

[1:27:45] happening along San Antonio and um that general vicinity from a commercial

[1:27:49] perspective as well. So yes. >> Okay. Very good. Thank you. That's all I

[1:27:54] have. Uh do we need a motion now to accept the activity report?

[1:28:02] » So move. Second. The clerk can take the vote.

[1:28:09] » Council member Lou, >> yes.

[1:28:11] » Chair Rectal, >> yes.

[1:28:12] » Vice Mayor Stone, >> yes.

[1:28:14] » Motion carries unanimously. >> Okay. Future meetings and agendas.

[1:28:19] What's What's on the menu? We are working with the Office of

[1:28:24] Transportation on what would be considered a downtown

[1:28:28] parking modernization strategy. Please know that uh the city manager's office,

[1:28:34] economic development and variety of city departments are uh in conversation. So

[1:28:40] we uh the plan would be to get in front if it's ready to get in front of the

[1:28:45] university avenue and downtown stakeholders in September and then

[1:28:50] followed by an economic development committee in October. So, we just want

[1:28:54] to make sure to do community engagement with our stakeholders before we get that

[1:29:00] information in front of you. Um, so the uh downtown parking modernization

[1:29:06] strategy uh we have some items to come back to you, but that would be a pretty

[1:29:11] significant uh agenda item for the economic development committee. And am I

[1:29:17] missing anything looking to my right, Ruth or Assistant City Manager Nos? No.

[1:29:23] Yeah, one thing that we do and and have heard here, we from an economic demo

[1:29:30] perspective want to continue to be in communication of course with our

[1:29:36] real estate network and the business community and better understand where

[1:29:40] are the pinch points, what are obstacles to having a thriving economy. So that

[1:29:45] can help with future strategies perhaps in 2027, but that's something that we're

[1:29:50] actively always trying to learn and set ourselves up for improvement.

[1:29:58] » Okay, >> thank you. And now we will move on to

[1:30:02] virtual public comment. >> Uh there are no requests to speak for

[1:30:06] virtual public comment. >> Okay, then we are adjourned.

[1:30:11] Okay, thank you.

Economic Development Committee Meeting - August 26, 2026

Transcript