Sunnyvale’s Peery Park Specific Plan Provides Framework for a Tech-Focused Employment Hub

Posted on October 6, 2016
The Peery Park Specific Plan was approved by Sunnyvale City Council on September 20 with all members in favor except for Councilmember Pat Meyering who abstained from the vote. The Plan outlines development for a 450-acre industrial area, near the Moffatt Federal Airfield and Downtown Sunnyvale Caltrain Station, over the next 20 years. The main goals of the Plan are to create an employment center that attracts and supports both major and small-scale tech companies, enhance area aesthetics, improve bicycle and pedestrian access and provide a small amount of residential to blend with nearby neighborhoods.

“This Plan is a huge improvement on the existing development standards that we have in that area,” said Vice Mayor Gustav Larsson. “It is a good balance because on the one hand this plan strives to create a 21st Century business park where the needs are rather different from the other kind of office space we have built in the past. On the other hand, this plan really captures a lot of community benefits and provides a lot of good things for the community through the shuttle and the streetscape improvements.”In addition to setting architectural design guidelines, the Plan will promote tech-friendly policies, allow for up to 215 housing units and add 2.2 million square feet of office or R&D by 2035. Including existing spaces, the commercial built-out would total 9.7 million square feet. Community benefits featured in the Plan are publicly accessible open spaces, additional parking and environmentally sustainable buildings. An increase in pedestrian and bicycle pathways will accompany streetscape and transit improvements. New funding will provide the expansion of commuter shuttle services at points within Peery Park, providing connectivity to surrounding areas.

“The Peery Park Specific Plan began as a study issue in 2008 and was funded in 2013,” explained Amber Blizinski, principal planner. “Since 2013, staff have held four community workshops, conducted an online survey and have met with various property owners and businesses within the Peery Park Specific Plan Area to present the framework and concepts.”

Since 2014, two City Council study sessions have been held to discuss the overall goals and policies of the Plan, as well as transportation mitigation efforts and community benefits. The Plan, which consists of four “books” was released as a draft in April along with the EIR for a public review process. The Plan was prepared by Freedman, Tung and Sasaki in collaboration with AMEC for the EIR. The market and fiscal analysis was done by Hexagon Transportation Consultants, The Concord Group and Seifel Consulting.

“I think that the ten years that have been spent on this plan are really reflected in just the remarkable level of detail — I have not seen a specific plan with this level of detail,” expressed Larsson. “I am very happy to see this coming to fruition and really look forward to the benefits that Sunnyvale will reap from this in the coming years.”

The Peery Park area was originally developed in the 1970s as an industrial park marked by single-level concrete buildings. Since then, little redevelopment has occurred in this older section of Sunnyvale. The Plan aims to meet increased interest in Class A office buildings while still retaining some Class B and C spaces. Current tenants includ e Blue Coat Systems, Apple, LinkedIn, Le Boulanger, Riverbed, Good Technology, Hewlett Packard, Ariba, The Parkinson’s Institute, BMC Software, and Synopsis. Industrial uses represent 77-percent of spaces, followed by 12-percent commercial and less than 1-percent residential.