City officials knock down roof level of apartments

Cupertino readies for changes from new developments

By Jeff Kearns

The biggest change to the city's skyline in recent years sailed to a 5-0 conceptual approval from the Planning Commission last week, after commissioners lowered the roof on an approximately 200-unit apartment building planned for Stevens Creek Boulevard just east of De Anza Boulevard.

The apartment complex project, which will include space for retail shops and restaurants, is set to go to the City Council on June 5. Council members at that meeting will be able to approve, deny or modify to the version of the project approved by planning commissioners.

Another major project proposed for the City Center, a 217-room hotel, was put on hold by the commission until late June. That project may grow to as many as 224 rooms before it returns to the commission on June 12.

Approval for the apartment and retail complex is the first major step toward a final approval for Prometheus (formerly Pegasus) Development. It will next need to take its plans to the City Council sometime in June. Pegasus, however, still has to resubmit several aspects of the plan to the Planning Commission, including a final, detailed architectural plan.

Commissioners at last week's meeting mandated a lower roof level for the apartment building. At the same time they made an exception for the building's proposed height, which is higher than city development guidelines usually allow.

Another change made since the project's last appearance before the commission on April 24, was the addition of a breezeway between the retail spaces on the good floor of the apartments. The change brings the size of the retail portion to about 6,750 square feet, down from around 7,000.

The number of units that will be in the shortened plan was not determined in the hearing. Project architects will bring revised plans that incorporate the latest round of changes back to the commission at a later date.

The apartment complex proposed at last week's meeting includes 206 residential units and will stand eight stories tall at its highest point, which will be set back from Stevens Creek Boulevard. According to Community Development Director Steve Piasecki, it's not yet certain that the apartments will have fewer units, but at the same time it isn't likely that the architects will be able to design the same number of units into the shorter building.

Piasecki said the final architectural plans probably wouldn't be submitted until the council makes a decision on the plan.

The building design consists of two L-shaped buildings, and the building closest to the street will be four stories tall, with some lofts reaching up an additional story. The design includes two levels of underground parking.

The version of the plan that came back last week incorporated a series of changes requested by the commission when the application was last considered on April 24. At that meeting, commissioners told the architects to drop the overall height of the tower building to between 75 and 100 feet. Architects shaved off much of the top floor of the taller building, but retained the tallest part of the design. They also shaved four feet off of the project by planning to grade the site that much lower.

But the commission still asked for a shorter height.

Commissioner Jerry Stevens said he didn't want the apartment building to block visibility of the City Center office towers behind it.

"We do have a landmark building behind it, and it does have a specific shape and look," he said. "This is what's bothering people, is that these two projects overshadow our landmark building, which is 110 feet high."

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