WEDNESDAY, June 17, 2026
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Midtown: Fire leads to sale BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT Daily Post Staff Writer
A shopping center in Midtown Palo Alto that was destroyed in a fire is up for sale, and council members are trying to make sure it’s redeveloped with new retail and not just housing. But state law may get in the way. The one-acre property at 3191 Middlefield Road is listed for $12 million. The property was home to Philz Coffee, Bill’s Cafe, AJ’s Dry Cleaners and Palo Alto Fine Wine and Spirits until a fire hit on Feb. 2, 2023. The burned building was demolished in August, and the site is now fenced off with dirt and weeds. Councilman George Lu said he
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called broker Douglas Sharpe to see if the city could do anything to un-blight the site with new retail. But Sharpe didn’t reply to Lu and hasn’t returned the Post’s phone calls either. The city has conflicting rules for the Midtown Shopping Center. One rule says housing isn’t allowed, and another rule says housing can go above retail on the ground floor, Planning Consultant Jean Eisberg told the Economic [See MIDTOWN, page 26]
EMPTY LOT — This property at 3191 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto was once a thriving shopping center until a fire struck on Feb. 2, 2023. Post photo.
RV dwellers repel tenants
ly reported that the unsightly RVs-ashousing are the primary reason why tenants have vacated and why commercial spaces cannot be re-let,” Edwards said in a May 5 claim, which the Post obtained on Monday using the California Public Records Act. BXP Properties owns the 40-acre ployees, dumped trash and car oil, let torney Corie Edwards said in a claim research park with 16 buildings betheir dogs roam off-leash and broken for BXP Properties. [See RV, page 26] locks to get water from a spigot, at“Real estate brokers have repeated-
Research park The owner of the Mountain View Research Park is threatening to sue threatens city the city over an influx of RV dwellers who are scaring off tenants. with a lawsuit RV dwellers have yelled at emBY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT Daily Post Staff Writer
AI writes town’s proclamations “OMG, our days are If you are being honored by Wood- numbered.” BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ Daily Post Staff Writer
side City Council anytime soon, they may use artificial intelligence to write your proclamation. Mayor Brian Dombkowski said he ISRAEL HITS BEIRUT: Israel used AI to write a proclamation for the launched airstrikes on southern Woodside Hills Garden & Social Club’s [See THE UPDATE, page 27] 70th anniversary, according to an email
Vice Mayor Paul Goeld
the Post obtained through a California Public Records Act request. Vice Mayor Paul Goeld reached out to Dombkowski on Aug. 22, 2025, to
acknowledge that the gardening organization is older than the town and suggested writing them a proclamation. “I thought it might be appropriate to recognize this accomplishment — perhaps with a proclamation with lots of those “whereas clauses!” Goeld wrote. Dombkowski then sent former Town [See AI, page 27]
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