Not a single resident spoke against the high-end restaurant, design studio and furniture store proposal from Restoration Hardware for Old Town Los Gatos, as it made it through Planning Commission, Wednesday night, with plenty of support.
Only Commissioner Susan Burnett voted against one component of the plan, though she voted with her fellow commissioners to recommend Council approve the Conditional Use Permit.
“It’s going to create a destination,” Commissioner Steve Raspe said. “It really does show who we are—puts us higher up on the map.”
Several residents shared how they’d become fans of Restoration Hardware’s approach to design and the culinary arts upon visiting their locations around the Bay Area.
Vice Chair Kendra Burch and Commissoner Rob Stump were absent.
At first, no one brought up any potential conflicts of interest.
But then, Raspe thought he better say something.
He admitted his house is “stuffed full” of RH furniture, but, he added, he was quite confident he could take an impartial look at the plans.
Gary Friedman, chairman and CEO of Restoration Hardware, shared his vision for commercial design, during his initial public comments.
“If you think about it, most retail stores are somewhat archaic,” he said. “We say we don’t build retail stores, we build inspiring spaces.”
He ran through slides showing a portfolio of previous projects that include the renovation of the Bethlehem Steel Building in San Francisco and a 73-acre English estate.
A key focus of the hearing was whether or not RH should be allowed to remove the current illusion of different buildings and create something that’s more symmetrical and cohesive.
Staff had initially recommended denial of the project, as the Historic Preservation Committee members had expressed concerns about the proposed standardization (though it reversed its position before the discussion got going, after reviewing what aspect of the project the HPC has jurisdiction over).
The HPC wasn’t thrilled that RH didn’t want to conform to the current rules that require a varied front façade.
Commissioner Jeffrey Barnett was curious about this.
“Why not?” he asked Friedman.
“It’s kind of a cacophony of a single building,” the businessman stated. “To me, this is bad architecture.”
He said he was surprised their project had to go before the HPC at all.
“We don’t do bad architecture,” he said. “We’re here to do something spectacular.”
Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce CEO Jennifer Lin said she believes a new Restoration Hardware location will add needed sales tax revenue to Town coffers, serve as a regional magnet with spillover benefits for nearby small businesses, fill a dormant corner with something dynamic and boost the overall Los Gatos brand.
She said the company’s leadership had already reached out to get a better sense of how they can support the local business community in the days to come.
“What’s proposed is an elegant Mediterranean-inspired design,” she said.
Commissioner Burnett said, while she knows RH can do impressive work, she raised concerns with the eagerness to do away with the prior rules that served to help establish the current downtown character.
And she asked Christian Irwin, vp of leasing for Federal Realty Investment Trust, which owns the property, about it.
“I personally believe what Restoration Hardware will do to that storefront will be magnificent,” he said. “It’s been an absolute passion project for me.”
He reflected on his now-fire-ravaged hometown of Pacific Palisades in the Los Angeles area, and how—when future-LA-mayoral-candidate Rick Caruso came in with a major commercial development proposal—it rubbed some the wrong way.
But, he said, as time went on, many naysayers came to love what was built.
The fact Restoration Hardware has selected Los Gatos for its next location says a lot, he added.
“Your community has momentum,” he said. “That resonates with retailers.”
Taylor Burke was one of the Los Gatos residents who urged Planning Commission to support the upscale retail-restaurant-studio project.
She moved her family here from New York during the pandemic and says the community could benefit from some of the things that city does right.
“We want to be able to walk downtown and run into people we know,” she said, noting when planning a recent outing with other local moms, it was hard to think of Los Gatos meet-up spots that would be appropriate for their outing.
In an interview with the Los Gatan after the vote, Friedman said he was “delighted” with the result.
“We’re deeply appreciative of the support of the community,” he said. “We look forward to being here for generations.”
He said, having spent his whole life in Northern California, he’s been coming to hang out in the community for years.
“We’ve enjoyed our first 15 years here, and we look forward to the next 15, or 30—or 50,” he said, referring to their current space on North Santa Cruz Avenue. “The question we have now is, Do we keep our existing location and turn it into an RH Outdoor store?”
