Commercial Condos on LG Blvd?

A total of 11 commercial condominiums on two existing buildings located at 15055 and 15075 Los Gatos Blvd. were to be considered Monday evening by the Los Gatos Town Council.

Property owners William Hirschman and Elizabeth Dodson were hoping the Council would amend a 12-year-old development to allow the conversion and exclude a retail requirement component, according to a staff report.

Hirschman has told planners that there are several interested parties who want to purchase the condos.

"Let me just share with you sort of the punishment that we've gone through as a result of the way we were zoned. I lost a furniture store, a pharmacy, an eye doctor, two financial planners, two banks and two restaurants ... none of those met the definition that we were given for a retail component, and it's been very painful, very painful," Hirschman told the Los Gatos Planning Commission on Sept. 14 when it considered the issue.

"So all we're asking now is to allow us to sell these units to any user," Hirschman pleaded, adding that the smaller building, about 5,000 square feet, could be sold to a dentist who would use one of the three suites for his office and rent the other spaces to businesses such as Edible Arrangements.

The Commission voted 6-1 to keep the retail requirement.

The request won't change the buildings, just the ownership of the commercial condominiums, once divided, a staff member of the Los Gatos Community Development Department explained.

Future tenants would be purchasing each commercial space individually, but could collectively own the land, staff said.

The community benefit tied to this project to offset traffic impacts would be contributing $10,000 to the Los Gatos Creekside Sports Park.

A commercial condo could be used by any business that would be interested in locating there, but would be subject to restrictions imposed by the Council Monday evening.

The applicants were to ask the Council to lift the retail requirement to allow the buildings to be used for anything, including retail, according to town staff.

Retail use may include a restaurant use provided a so-called conditional-use permit is approved. A commercial use could be a medical office use.

The applicants won't be doing any construction on the site, but they could in the future.

Commissioner Margaret Smith was the only one who favored lifting the retail restriction explaining last month that retail businesses have never "blossomed" on Los Gatos Boulevard. "The reason is because the hospital [Good Samaritan] expanded and the need for medical/dental expanded with it."

Smith said imposing entire sections of the buildings to be used for retail purposes is difficult given the current market conditions.