Empty Palo Alto lot listed for $9 Million reflects red hot real estate market

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Sky-high real estate prices are not new for the Bay Area, but one $9 million listing in Palo Alto may have set a new standard.

The quarter-acre lot in Old Palo Alto, just a few blocks from Stanford University and Paly High School literally features... nothing.

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The lot at 1628 Bryant Street features nothing but grass and trees, but its location alone makes it so valuable that representing agents felt comfortable putting a $9 million price tag on the land.

"It's open to potentially anyone, who can afford it. The barrier to entry is high," says listing agent Adam Touni with Resolve group.

He thinks the likely buyer will be someone in tech or from overseas. "Those are the probably the two buyer profiles."

Touni says price is determined by supply and demand. And in Old Palo Alto, the market dictates prices. The house next door is listed for $19 million.

We came through, we cleared the entire lot. And when we made our way to the back of the property, we discovered these, you couldn't even see them from the street. It's a gorgeous ring of redwood trees," says Touni.

Those redwoods are heritage trees, which means the new owners can't cut them down, further limiting space on this already small piece of land.

"There is always an appetite as long as Silicon Valley remains a place where there is innovation," explains Margartet Chia Maloney, who lives blocks away from the vacant plot.

She says it's a great neighborhood with world-class schools, not to mention that tech titans, like Google and Facebook, are nearby.

All of that adds to the neighborhood's appeal and price tag, but she is also concerned about escalating prices.

"A $9 million plot, that is only 12,000 square feet, demonstrates that capitalism is alive and thriving in America. It's aspirational, I think the price is aspirational," says Chia Maloney.

Four weeks on the market and they have already four showings, but still no offer.

This is not the first time that a vacant lot in Palo Alto has garnered multi-million dollar attention.

Last year ABC7 news did a story on another empty quarter acre lot on Coleridge Avenue sold for nearly $5.4 million. Two years before that the same property sold for just $3.1 million.

Palo Alto is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the Bay Area.

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