[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.