{"id":521700,"date":"2026-03-13T19:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521700\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T19:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:16:13","slug":"ceqa-exemption-granted-for-490-east-middlefield-road-mountain-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521700\/","title":{"rendered":"CEQA Exemption Granted For 490 East Middlefield Road, Mountain View"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The City of Mountain View has granted a CEQA Exemption for the eight-story proposal at 490 East Middlefield Road in <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/neighborhoods\/mountain-view\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mountain View<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/neighborhoods\/santa-clara-county\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Santa Clara County<\/a>. The project was determined to meet the criteria for the streamlined review through the California Environmental Quality Act via Assembly Bill 130. Jeff Stone of <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/diamond-construction\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Diamond Construction Inc<\/a> is listed as the project applicant, filed through WTA Middlefield LLC.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/490-East-Middlefield-Road-street-view-rendering-by-SDT-Architects.jpg\" alt=\"490 East Middlefield Road street view, rendering by SDT Architects\" width=\"1500\" height=\"848\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">490 East Middlefield Road street view, rendering by SDT Architects<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45478\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/490-East-Middlefield-Road-second-level-floor-plan-illustration-by-SDT-Architects.jpg\" alt=\"490 East Middlefield Road second-level floor plan, illustration by SDT Architects\" width=\"1500\" height=\"876\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">490 East Middlefield Road second-level floor plan, illustration by SDT Architects<\/p>\n<p>The roughly 85-foot-tall structure is expected to yield around 391,700 square feet, including 327,440 square feet for housing, 9,370 square feet of ground-level retail, and 54,960 square feet for the ground-level stacker-filled garage. Parking will be included for 495 cars and 358 bicycles. The project is expected to create 460 apartments, including 230 studios, 196 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms, and eight loft-style apartments.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/sdt-architects\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SDT Architects<\/a> is responsible for the design, working with Los Angeles-based <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/olin-landscape-architects\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Olin<\/a> for the landscape architecture. Illustrations show the podium-style complex will be carved up to visually reduce the structure\u2019s scale from the street. This includes facade articulation, setbacks, and wrapping the top two floors in a dark grey cladding. Facade materials will include insulated metal panels and stucco.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45479\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/490-East-Middlefield-Road-sidewalk-view-rendering-by-SDT-Architects.jpg\" alt=\"490 East Middlefield Road sidewalk view, rendering by SDT Architects\" width=\"1500\" height=\"844\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">490 East Middlefield Road sidewalk view, rendering by SDT Architects<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45477\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/490-East-Middlefield-Road-pedestrian-view-showcasing-the-podium-top-courtyard-rendering-by-SDT-Archi.jpeg\" alt=\"490 East Middlefield Road pedestrian view showcasing the podium-top courtyard, rendering by SDT Architects\" width=\"1500\" height=\"844\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">490 East Middlefield Road pedestrian view showcasing the podium-top courtyard, rendering by SDT Architects<\/p>\n<p>Residential amenities will be spread across several lounges, two podium-top courtyards, and a few fitness studios. The open-air courtyard will include a pool deck, a dog park, outdoor dining spaces, and ample seating.<\/p>\n<p>The application benefits from Assembly Bill 130, which \u201cexpands CEQA to include a new statutory exemption applying to a broad array of infill housing projects.\u201d The filing also invokes the State Density Bonus law to increase residential capacity above base zoning. Of the 460 units, 55 will be deed-restricted as affordable housing for low-income and very low-income households.<\/p>\n<p>The 2.86-acre property is located along Middlefield Road between Ellis Street and North Whisman Road. Demolition will be required for an existing two-story office building. Future residents will find themselves between several Google-owned offices, apartments, and single-family homes. The site is close to the Middlefield lightrail station, less than 15 minutes from the Mountain View Caltrain Station via transit or bicycle.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45481\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/490-East-Middlefield-Road-vertical-cross-section-illustration-by-SDT-Architects.jpg\" alt=\"490 East Middlefield Road vertical cross-section, illustration by SDT Architects\" width=\"1500\" height=\"964\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">490 East Middlefield Road vertical cross-section, illustration by SDT Architects<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45483\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/490-East-Middlefield-Road-image-via-Google-Satellite-outlined-approximately-by-YIMBY.jpg\" alt=\"490 East Middlefield Road, image via Google Satellite outlined approximately by YIMBY\" width=\"1500\" height=\"798\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">490 East Middlefield Road, image via Google Satellite outlined approximately by YIMBY<\/p>\n<p>The estimated cost and timeline for construction have not yet been established.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/hdjqhz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe<\/a> to YIMBY\u2019s daily e-mail<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/yimbygram\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Follow<\/a> YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/YIMBYFB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Like<\/a>\u00a0YIMBY on Facebook<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yimbytweets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Follow<\/a> YIMBY\u2019s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/490-east-middlefield-road\" rel=\"category tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">490 East Middlefield Road<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/diamond-construction\" rel=\"category tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Diamond Construction<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/olin-landscape-architects\" rel=\"category tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">OLIN Landscape Architects<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sfyimby.com\/category\/sdt-architects\" rel=\"category tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stackhouse De la Pe\u00f1a Trachtenberg Architects<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Mountain View has granted a CEQA Exemption for the eight-story proposal at 490 East Middlefield&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-521700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}