Palo Alto and its school district have released a summary of how they arrived at the price for 7 acres of the Cubberley Community Center, the land deal at the heart of the city's Measure J sales tax. The full appraisal itself is still not public.
The numbers
According to a joint statement from the city and Palo Alto Unified School District, the district first asked $90 million for the parcel. The district said that figure reflected what outside groups, possibly including a private school, might pay to lease the site long term.
The city based its offer on a 2024 appraisal that valued the land at $43.6 million to $60.2 million. The statement said pinning down a value was "imprecise" because there are few comparable sites, the land is zoned for public facilities, and state law gives public agencies priority as buyers. After what it called protracted negotiations, the two sides agreed on $60.65 million in 2024 dollars, which the statement says works out to $65.5 million when the purchase happens in 2027.
Read in 2024 dollars, that means the city would pay slightly more than the top of its own appraisal range and far less than the district's opening ask.
What Measure J would do
Measure J on the November ballot would raise Palo Alto's sales tax by half a cent, bringing in about $15.6 million a year, according to Palo Alto Online. It is a general tax, so the money goes into the city's general fund, but the City Council adopted a resolution committing it to Cubberley. The plan is to combine the 7 acres with the 8 acres the city already owns on the 35-acre campus and then rebuild, with new theaters, a new gym and other facilities.
The Palo Alto Daily Post noted that the tax has no end date and that the ballot question itself focuses on making the buildings safer rather than on the land purchase. The paper had asked for the appraisal under the California Public Records Act in July, and the city declined, saying appraisals made before a property purchase are exempt.
Tenant deal approved
The same night the summary came out, the council approved agreements with two Cubberley tenants, San José Spotlight reported. HeartFit for Life, which runs cardiac rehabilitation programs, and Avenidas, the city's main provider of services for older adults, want to partner with the city on improvements that would let them expand. Ballots for the Nov. 3 election have already been mailed.