In a bid to balance its bottom line, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church of Mountain View is planning to lease out its Castro Street parking lot to be developed into a new four-story office building. If approved by the city, the proposal would allow the development firm Sobrato Group to build 96,500 square feet of new office space, as well as 12 townhouses.
In the works for the last two years, the lease deal was prompted by the St. Joseph parish's need to find new ways to raise revenue. The parish includes the downtown church and the St. Joseph Catholic School on Miramonte Avenue.
St. Joseph parish officials deferred questions about the land deal to the Diocese of San Jose. Robert Serventi, a diosece spokesman, declined to specify how much revenue the parish needed or how much the deal would provide.
"The parish was looking for certain things to resolve some financial needs they had," Serventi said. "We did an analysis of needs over the months and many ideas came forward."
In 2013, church officials put out a request for proposals from any development firms interested in building out the church parking lot. More than a dozen developers submitted proposals, and church officials eventually landed on Sobrato as the best candidate for a long-term lease for the site.
The 1-acre lot, across the street from City Hall, is a lucrative spot for development, even by Mountain View standards, explained Sobrato vice president Chase Lyman.
"It's downtown Mountain View; it's one of the best markets in the county," Lyman said. "To get a parcel of this size for a building of this magnitude, it was a no-brainer for us."
Sobrato's plans call for office space atop 8,000 square feet for retail shops or restaurants on the ground floor. No tenants are currently lined up for the space, Lyman said.
St. Joseph church officials emphasized that the new project would ultimately bring a slate of improvements to the 110-year old church and its surrounding buildings. During the construction phase, the St. Joseph parking lot would be off-limits and congregation members would have to park elsewhere. But once finished, the development would include a three-story underground parking garage that would be shared by the church and tenants in the new office building. That garage would be much larger than the church's current parking lot, Serventi said.
The church's offices and the pastor's on-site living quarters would be rebuilt as part of the project. Sobrato's plans also include a open-air pavilion that would be shared between the offices and church property. The church building itself would not be impacted by the project, and weekly services and other activities would be able to continue during the construction, according to Sobrato officials.
Sobrato submitted tentative plans for the church property to the city in April., but no date has yet been set for city officials to publicly review the plans.
Comments
Old Mountain View
on Aug 7, 2015 at 11:25 am
on Aug 7, 2015 at 11:25 am
Prime real estate. Would be nice to have shops that draw people downtown, or homes that help the supply shortage. Plus, both of those would actually pay taxes and help Mountain View.
North Whisman
on Aug 7, 2015 at 11:53 am
on Aug 7, 2015 at 11:53 am
St. Joseph is also a wonderful parish with a very diverse community, so I hope this helps them continue their mission in our city. The parish school has been operating successfully for 50 years or more and it's nice having a few churches in our downtown area.
Old Mountain View
on Aug 7, 2015 at 4:20 pm
on Aug 7, 2015 at 4:20 pm
Four stories at Church and Castro? That's far high. Two stories maximum and two SUV-sized underground parking spaces for each townhouse. And, just as importantly, will any of that "abundant" parking be public parking, which is in very short supply? It's high time that Old Mountain View residents say "No Mas!" to our City Planning Commission's and our City Council's insanely grandiose plans to turn Mountain View into a high rise urban ghetto.
Old Mountain View
on Aug 7, 2015 at 5:33 pm
on Aug 7, 2015 at 5:33 pm
I hope the developer will improve the street scape on both sides of the church. Remove the awful asphalt under the trees in the park strip and add new planting all around.
another community
on Aug 7, 2015 at 7:58 pm
on Aug 7, 2015 at 7:58 pm
"Plus, both of those would actually pay taxes and help Mountain View."
Will they? Or will the church property tax exemptions be extended to these housing and office developments?
Sylvan Park
on Aug 8, 2015 at 7:31 am
on Aug 8, 2015 at 7:31 am
Another office building? Will there be retail/services on street level? Will there be setbacks with some public space (similar to Fenwick & West building). I hope the new building does not tower over the church but I fear it will. That would be unfortunate. Saint Joseph's is a historic building and should be treated as such. Probably the oldest building in Mountain View. I suppose we should be happy that they are not going to bulldoze it like much of the rest of Mountain View. Nothing is sacred anymore (no pun intended) and I mean that in a secular way.
As part of the deal they should have the developer include funding to maintain Saint Joseph's historic pipe organ, built by the world famous Murray M. Harris Company, who also build the original pipe organs at Stanford Memorial Church. Love it when they pull out all the stops! I am sure many Mountain View residents have no idea we have such a beautiful historic instrument in the middle of downtown! Web Link
Bailey Park
on Aug 8, 2015 at 2:57 pm
on Aug 8, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Actually it's the church that owns the property. If they are concerned about the church on the property, they can communicate that concern to the developer they handpicked.
another community
on Aug 8, 2015 at 5:16 pm
on Aug 8, 2015 at 5:16 pm
From the top parking level of the Kaiser-Permanente facility I was surprised to see that the new 4 story building on Church and Castro does not even come to the top of the roof of the church (let alone the tower). The picture with the article seems to be taken from between cars parked in the church's lot, so the tower is hidden.
I hope the architect can preserve some of the "church" view when looking down Church Street from Castro.
Old Mountain View
on Aug 8, 2015 at 9:08 pm
on Aug 8, 2015 at 9:08 pm
Don't take away the parking, make sure there's setbacks, don't obsure views to the church, four stories is too high, make it all condos...no wonder nothing gets built here!
Shoreline West
on Aug 10, 2015 at 12:22 pm
on Aug 10, 2015 at 12:22 pm
"Four stories at Church and Castro? That's far high."
The four story building on the opposite side of Church Street along Castro is just being completed.
And the buildings on the opposite side of Castro from those are four and five stories.
Blossom Valley
on Aug 10, 2015 at 9:11 pm
on Aug 10, 2015 at 9:11 pm
I hope the proceeds allow them to continue, if not grow their good work in the community
Old Mountain View
on Aug 17, 2015 at 6:30 pm
on Aug 17, 2015 at 6:30 pm
I'm personally very excited to see this development. I'm curious, does this plan touch the Kaiser building at 565 Castro? Is that property in active use? It looks very run-down and I've never seen anyone go in or out.
another community
on Oct 2, 2015 at 11:23 am
on Oct 2, 2015 at 11:23 am
The Pope recently said that taxes should be paid on any Church property that is not being used for the poor or for religious purposes should pay property taxes. Will this new building be paying full property taxes?
Web Link