Commercial Real Estate in Los Altos: Downtown Village, El Camino Real and Neighborhood Centers

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Los Altos has a small, tightly zoned commercial footprint: the downtown village around Main and State streets and its parking plazas, the El Camino Real corridor along the city’s northern edge, and a handful of neighborhood centers such as Rancho and Woodland. Each area has its own chapter of the zoning code with its own heights and ground-floor rules. Confirm the district for any parcel with the City of Los Altos Development Services Department before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Los Altos is an incorporated city, and Title 14 of the Los Altos Municipal Code is its zoning ordinance. The city splits commercial land into more districts than most cities its size, from downtown village zones to an office-only district, so two neighboring buildings can have different height limits and use lists. El Camino Real is a state highway, so driveway and frontage work there can also involve Caltrans. Some unincorporated County pockets lie near the city’s edges, including areas between Los Altos and Los Altos Hills; for those, see our Santa Clara County commercial guide.

Los Altos zoning for commercial, office and mixed use

Downtown Los Altos: the CD and CD/R3 districts

The downtown chapters say their aim is to carry out the downtown urban design plan, keep a village atmosphere and encourage historic preservation and pedestrian amenities.

• By-right uses. Retail and personal services, restaurants without drive-throughs, office-administrative services without drive-throughs, trade and professional schools, residential-only buildings and mixed-use buildings.
• Use permits. Cocktail lounges, commercial recreation, day care centers, animal clinics and medical and dental offices need a use permit under Chapter 14.80. In CD/R3, the medical office permit applies to offices of 5,000 square feet or more.
• Keeping retail. In CD, a site that already has more than 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail or restaurant space must keep at least as much on the ground floor when it redevelops. That rule shapes any office or housing conversion of a larger downtown building.
• Heights. In both chapters, nonresidential buildings stop at 30 feet and three stories, residential-only buildings at 40 feet and four stories, and mixed-use buildings at 45 feet and four stories.
• Storefront design. Street-facing commercial ground floors need at least 60% transparent glazing in CD. In CD/R3, nonresidential ground floors must be at least 24 inches taller than the upper floors, and structured parking has to be wrapped by at least 30 feet of active use or sunk at least 4 feet below the sidewalk.
• Exceptions. Section 14.44.180 allows deviations from standards in CD for public benefit, subject to findings.

The latest amendments to both downtown chapters came in Ordinance 2023-501, adopted October 10, 2023.

El Camino Real: the CT district

The CT chapter’s purposes include encouraging housing, including affordable housing, supporting commercial success, encouraging parcel aggregation and buffering nearby homes. It also says it favors retail over office and service uses.

• By right. Offices, retail and personal services, restaurants without drive-throughs, residential-only buildings, mixed use, single room occupancy housing and emergency shelters.
• Use permits. Hotels and motels, medical clinics, day care, schools, mortuaries and printing shops.
• Not near homes. Auto sales and repair, drive-throughs and car washes, service stations, cabinet shops and theaters need a use permit and cannot be within 50 feet of a residential district. Service stations also need 100 feet of frontage and a 20,000 square foot site.
• Sites and height. The minimum site is 20,000 square feet with 75 feet of frontage. Heights are 45 feet and four stories for nonresidential buildings, 55 feet and five stories for residential-only and 60 feet and five stories for mixed use, with a 10-foot step back above 45 feet on street sides.
• No density cap. Section 14.50.080 says no residential density limit applies in CT, so unit counts are set by height, setbacks and open space.
• Recent changes. Ordinance 2025-531, adopted May 27, 2025, amended the CT setback and related sections.

Short-term rentals, lodging and permits

Under Chapter 14.30, adopted by Ordinance 2018-441 on May 22, 2018, a short-term rental of fewer than 30 consecutive days is a prohibited use in every zoning district; only city-approved hotels and motels are outside that definition. For visitor lodging, the CT district is the main place where a hotel can be proposed, by use permit. Businesses need a city business license under Chapter 4.04.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

Los Altos’s real property transfer tax, Chapter 3.28, is 27.5 cents per $500 of consideration, excluding liens that remain on the property, and became operative in 1967. The County Recorder administers it under the state’s Documentary Transfer Tax Act. The County Ordinance Code Div. A30, Ch. III sets the County tax at $0.55 per $500 and, in §A30-40, credits a conforming city tax set at half that rate, so the city’s 27.5 cents is shared within the County’s $0.55 rather than added; confirm the total on the escrow estimate. A change of ownership generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment. We did not verify business license tax rates.

Due diligence that matters in Los Altos

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm the exact district; CD, CD/R3, CRS and CT have different height and use limits.
• For downtown buildings with more than 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail or restaurant space, plan to keep that space in any redevelopment.
• Check whether a medical, day care or bar tenant needs a use permit before signing a lease.
• On El Camino Real, confirm the 50-foot distance from residential districts for auto, drive-through or service station uses.
• Assume no short-term rental income from any residential units in a mixed-use building.
• Check downtown parking plaza and in-lieu arrangements with the city, which we did not review.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Los Altos Municipal Code (GoCodebook)
2. Chapter 14.44, CD Commercial Downtown
3. Chapter 14.52, CD/R3 Commercial Downtown/Multiple-Family
4. Chapter 14.50, CT Commercial Thoroughfare
5. Chapter 14.30, Short-Term Rental Prohibition
6. Chapter 3.28, Real Property Transfer Tax
7. Santa Clara County Ordinance Code, Division A30, Chapter III, Real Property Transfer Tax

Note: We did not review the CN, CRS, CRS/OAD or OA chapters, the downtown urban design plan, parking chapter 14.74 or business license rates. Neighborhood center names are general descriptions; confirm the district on the city zoning map.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.

Related: Los Altos real estate guide · Multifamily property in Los Altos · Commercial real estate services