Commonwealth Building 3

The Sobrato Organization proposes to construct a new 249,500 square-foot, four-story office building and a new four-story, five-level parking structure with approximately 1,343 parking spaces, located at 162-164 Jefferson Dr. The site contains two existing four-story office buildings, each approximately 129,960 square feet in size, to remain on the project site. The total existing and proposed office development on the parcel would be approximately 509,420 square feet.

The proposed project includes a publicly accessible park along Jefferson Drive, a publicly accessible paseo connecting Jefferson Drive to Commonwealth Drive, and publicly accessible paseos and open space areas along the edges of the project site. The applicant is requesting modifications to the City’s bird friendly design standards and the use and storage of hazardous materials (diesel fuel) for an emergency backup generator. To comply with the City’s below market rate (BMR) requirements for commercial projects, the applicant has proposed to pay the BMR commercial linkage in-lieu fee. The proposal includes a request for an increase in height and floor area ratio under the bonus level development allowance in exchange for community amenities.

It is anticipated that the following city actions (e.g., agreements, permits, analyses and reviews) would be required for the proposed project:

Environmental review
Conditional development permit amendment
Below market rate housing agreement

Current status

The applicant resubmitted project plans and related materials in August 2025. Previously, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) was released on July 1, 2022 for a 45-day public comment period, which closed on August 15, 2022. Staff is preparing a response to comments document otherwise known as the Final EIR.

Environmental review

Draft environmental impact report

The focused Draft Environmental Impact Report, technical appendices, and notice of availability were released Friday, July 1, 2022, with a 45-day comment period that closed Aug. 15, 2022.

Notice of preparation

A notice of preparation is an initial step to inform members of the public that an environmental impact report is going to be prepared.

Notice of preparation(PDF, 4MB)

The notice of preparation and the scope of the environmental impact report were the subject of the June 3, 2019, Planning Commission scoping session and study session. The following comment letters were received during the notice of preparation comment period: