Santa Clara approves plan to rebuild its former Downtown

63 years ago, Santa Clara had a Downtown area that was nearly completely destroyed. Eight blocks by Santa Clara University were leveled to make way for Franklin Mall and high-density housing that never materialized.

Now, the city of Santa Clara has approved a new plan that would restore Santa Clara's original street grid while creating three new public spaces and a retail shopping experience. The area was originally zoned to support 129,300 SQFT of new commercial space and 396 more residential units than it has today. The new plan would allow for 1,071 units and a whipping 729,620 SQFT of commercial space. Buildings would still be capped at seven stories.

If you look at the map below, the new plan would involve tearing down several existing buildings, including Park Central Apartments (which are quite old and in need of renovation anyway). I would not expect a brand new Downtown to materialize any time soon, the city is just setting the vision and up-zoning the area to encourage and support developers to create a future Downtown where the old one once existed. You can see see remnants and information related to the original Downtown in Franklin Mall.

Source: SVBJ