A major new housing proposal could bring 49 townhome-style condominiums to a prominent Moraga site just off Country Club Drive, replacing a collection of low-rise office buildings near the Lafayette-Moraga Trail.
Moraga’s Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the School Street Townhomes project on Tuesday, July 7, at 6:30 p.m. The proposal covers four adjoining parcels at 1600, 1620, 1640 and 1660 School Street, near the western corner of School Street and Country Club Drive.
Under the plans, the existing one-story office buildings, parking lot and landscaping would be demolished to make way for 11 separate three-story townhome buildings. The project would include one eight-unit building, seven four-unit buildings, two five-unit buildings and one three-unit building.
All 49 homes would have either three or four bedrooms, a notable detail in a town where larger family-oriented new housing is often in short supply. Five of the units would be designated as below-market-rate affordable homes.
The tallest of the proposed buildings would rise to about 41 feet, 8 inches. Plans show the development arranged around a network of new internal streets, landscaping and small guest-parking areas, with the units primarily facing School Street, Country Club Drive and newly created private lanes. The official rendering depicts a Mediterranean-influenced design with white facades, tiled roofs and substantial street landscaping.
The 2.95-acre site sits immediately south of the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail and near Laguna Creek. Town documents say the closest proposed structure would sit just 1.9 feet from the trail in one location, while the northern buildings would be more than 65 feet from the property’s north line.
Parking could be one of the closely watched elements of the proposal. The development would provide 114 spaces, including two-car garages for each unit, 11 guest spaces on School Street, three spaces on Country Club Drive and two uncovered on-site guest spaces.
The application is separate from a previously approved 66-unit apartment proposal involving much of the same School Street area. That earlier project, approved by the Planning Commission in October 2024 and later upheld by the Town Council, remains listed by Moraga as pre-construction. The town’s current development page lists the townhome project as under review, though public materials do not spell out whether the newer townhome proposal would replace the earlier apartment plan.
The July 7 hearing will be held at Moraga’s Council Chambers and Community Meeting Room, 335 Rheem Blvd. Residents can also submit comments to the town’s Planning Department at planning@moraga.ca.us.
We’ll follow this closely and see if it indeed moves ahead. Make sure to join our free 925 News newsletter so we can keep you updated.
