Latest renderings for a massive North San Jose residential project

A major infill development at 211-281 River Oaks Parkway is starting to come into focus. The project would have 737 residential units broken down into 637 apartments and 100 townhomes. 132 of the units would be reserved for affordable housing. The market rate homes will range from 536 to 1,290 SQFT for apartments and 1,230 to 1,790 SQFT for the townhomes. Enough parking would be built to accommodate 891 cars and 345 bicycles.

The location is quite good, as it is right in the middle of the Golden Triangle with easy access to San Jose's tech jobs. It's also facing Crescent Village and it's popular crescent shaped park. Several great restaurants would be a short walk away--shout out to Laksana Thai and Curry Up Now.

The developer is expecting to start construction on the townhomes by November 2026 and the apartments in the middle of 2028.

Source: SF YIMBY

524 new apartments proposed near Santana Row

A site previously entitled for a 882,000 SQFT office and retail project has pivoted to housing. This proposal by Holland Partner Group is at the intersection of Stevens Creek and Saratoga Ave., just a few minutes drive away from Santana Row and Valley Fair.

The project would have two eight-story residential buildings, both of which would wrap around a central courtyard. Of the 524 proposed units, 5% would be designated as affordable to very-low-income households.

The ground floor would be able to accommodate two fitness centers and plans also include a co-working space. One of the goals would be to enhance the pedestrian experience for the areas fronting Stevens Creek and Saratoga Ave., and part of that would be creating brand new public gathering spaces.

While it may not be as lucrative as an office building long-term, this proposal would be a major improvement for the corner at 3896 Stevens Creek Boulevard.

Source: The Mercury News

Bascom Station has started leasing

Bascom Station appears to have started leasing their apartments. This is a 590 apartment project in an 8-story building. It's located right next to the Bascom VTA Light Rail station at 1350 S. Bascom Avenue. There are also several retail pads on the ground floor available for lease and a 200,000 SQFT office building next door that is still under construction.

This is a great example of a mixed-use infill project near transit. Previously this area just had 76,894 SQFT of commercial space.

Source: RebecaG from Skyscraper City 

PG&E is partnering with developers to expedite electrical work

PG&E is collaborating with developers and policy makers in order to power developments faster and help cut down the time it take a new project to be able to house residents. This includes improving turnaround time to schedule electrical connection, having centralized support, and providing interim power solutions.

The results so far include a 26% increase in the number of connections in the South Bay from 2022 to 2023. By streamlining process, they are hoping to sever 30% more customers in 2024 than 2023. For more details, head to the source link below.

Source: SVBJ

Community Development Partner's first San Jose housing project

A new 160-unit housing project has been approved in East San Jose by Community Development Partners. All of the units in the five-story building would be designated as low-income.

The units include 15 permanent supportive housing units and 25 units for Veterans. There will be a mix of plans ranging from studios to three-bedroom units. Amenities include a community room, bike and car parking, a community kitchen operated by San Jose's own Veggielution, and a communal outdoor courtyard.

Recently the company was awarded $4M from the California Department of Housing to help move this project along. This will be CDP's first project in Santa Clara County.

Source: Community Development Partners

New Residential Project approved for 210 Baypointe Parkway in North San Jose

A much-needed residential community has been approved in North San Jose. The plans include 42 townhomes and over 290 apartments in a seven-story building. 17 units would be designated as affordable housing. 

Part of the project would include a public paseo connecting to Casa Verde Street and the ground-floor apartments and townhomes would line that paseo. Amenities include a work-from-home space, plazas, and bike rooms. 84 parking spaces would be built for the townhomes and 332 spaces for the apartments. There would also be 146 bike parking spaces.

The site of the project is on E. Tasman Dr., a couple blocks away Light Rail and near multiple tech campuses in North San Jose. On site right now is a one-story industrial building that is 40 years old on a total land area of 4.83 acres. 

Source: SF YIMBY

African American Cultural Center with housing proposed in San Jose

The African American Cultural Center is being proposed at 2001 The Alameda, right before San Jose turns into Santa Clara as you head away from Downtown San Jose. The project raised $3 million in funds August last year and another $4.1 million in federal funding this March. In total they have already raised $30 million.

The center is designed to serve as a hub for education, music, theater, dance, science, athletics, and business. The building itself will have meeting halls, banquet facilities, youth development facilities, a library, museum gallery, senior and youth programs, child care, a theatre, and even some retail.

Now there is also a major housing component to this project as well. EAH Housing is planning to build about 150 units, 135 of which would be affordable. 12 to 15 of the units would be for-sale condos. EAH Housing is a nonprofit that has already developed 107 properties and 8,700 residential units.

There is no ETA as a bit more fundraising needs to be completed, but this looks like a great mixed-use project for San Jose.

Source: SiliconValley.com

Blossom Hill housing project moves forward

A parking lot at the Blossom Hill VTA station is getting one step closer to becoming a 328 home project. The six-story building will have 239 market-rate homes and 14,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. A five-story building across the street will have 89 affordable housing units. The project would also create a new transit plaza for South San Jose VTA riders and a walking/biking trail along Canoas Creek.

While the project was approved in 2022, not a lot has happened. The affordable housing component just received a $5.5 million boost from the government.

In a best-case scenario, the affordable housing piece will start construction in the summer of 2025 with the market rate portion to follow.

Source: SVBJ

New housing proposed on former golf course

A large block of land near Lake Cunningham Park that I think would be super ideal for a theme park now has an active proposal for a 1,716 home project. 

The project is being proposed by Terrascape Ventures LLC and would take approximately 114 acres that used to be a golf course until 2004.

Of the 1,716 homes, 1,374 would be market rate and 342 would be affordable housing. There is little other information beside the fact that the land is on the market for $125 million.

Source: SF YIMBY

860 West San Carlos Street in San Jose shifts from market-rate to affordable housing

A proposed 12-story apartment building in San Jose's Midtown is switching from market-rate to 100% affordable housing. It is also getting more units, going from 263 to 272 units. The project is backed by Swenson and Republic Urban Properties.

The main reason for the change seems to be financing. Affordable housing has more potential funding sources. Falling interest rates should also help move this project around.

There is still no ETA but updated permits is a good sign that the project is still alive and kicking.

Source: SF YIMBY

Spartan Village on the Paseo

After several months of renovation, what was originally the Fairmont Annex tower will now be home to around 700 San Jose State University students that will be living there most of the year. Occupancy is already over 90% capacity. Students started moving in this past weekend.

This is one of the nicest student housing projects I have ever seen. Not only is it centrally located in Downtown San Jose, but it has a sky bridge lounge, a gaming lounge, video screening center, cafe, fitness room, and study rooms. Keep in mind that what are now dorms used to be the fanciest hotel rooms in San Jose and have a view of Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

This should have a significant impact on foot traffic and general ground floor activity around the tower. I think that will improve the retail scene, safety, and the overall vibe around Plaza de Cesar Chavez. It's a win all the way around except for the loss of a couple hundred hotel rooms. There are several new hotels being proposed that will hopefully fill in that gap.

Congratulations to the SJSU students moving into Spartan Village on the Paseo. Your college experience is going to be much nicer than previous generations!

Source: SiliconValley.com

Wishlist Wednesday: 3d printed homes in San Jose

We live in the epicenter of technological disruption and innovation, yet housing has changed very little in decades. Now we're starting to see some interesting ideas being tested in this space. A community called Wolf range in Georgetown, Texas (north of Austin) is being built by Lennar using a giant 3D printer. The machine is 45 feet wide and weighs almost 5 tons. 

The "ink" is a mixture of concrete powder, water, and sand. This makes the homes very resilient to extreme weather and increases waterproofing and energy efficiency dramatically. 

I have spent a lot of time in homes made out of concrete and stone throughout my life and can vouch that the level of insulation is excellent. Sometimes it can be a 20 degree difference between outdoor and indoor temperatures with very little heating or air conditioning needed. I can also attest that the one downside is WiFi signals will struggle to get through the walls as mentioned in the source article. A multi-router mesh network is ideal.

The 100-home project started in 2022 and should be done by the end of the summer. Each of the homes range from $450k to $600k and feature three to four bedrooms.

What makes me excited about this technology, is that with economies of scale the cost of homebuilding could decrease while delivering a better overall product. There is limited space for single family homes in San Jose, but this can easily be used for ADUs or even townhomes with a little effort. The cost of construction is one of the key variables keeping housing costs high, so any downward pressure on that will benefit homebuyers and help increase supple in Silicon Valley.

Source: Engadget

Mixed-use housing project proposed near Chuck E. Cheese

B3 Commercial LLC would like to build an eight-story, 138-unit housing project at 2470 Alvin Avenue in East San Jose. The compact project would fit on less than an acre and also feature 5,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. The project also appears to have a terrace on the penthouse floor, which is likely a community space.

The unit mix would be 24 studios, 83 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms, and 5 three-bedroom apartments. At least 20% of the units would have to be designated as affordable housing as B3 Commercial is using the builder's remedy loophole to expedite approval.

The location is right off of Tully, where the main landmark is the giant Chuck E. Cheese. The project would replace a single-story medical facility that used to be leased by Planned Parenthood.

If everything goes to plan, they would aim to start construction between 2026 and 2027, which would put a grand opening towards the end of the decade.

Source: SiliconValley.com

New single family housing suburb proposed for San Jose's Almaden district

If you thought single family construction was over in San Jose, guess again. Latala Homes plans to build 177 new detached homes, averaging just under 2,500 SQFT per home at 20202 Harry Road. 36 of those homes will be designated as affordable for low-income households. The site is currently an empty field so no demo work would be necessary.

Before the urbanists get up in arms, this is already as deep into the suburbs as you can possibly get. There is nothing walkable anywhere near here and there probably never will be. If you're wondering where Harry Road is, it's where Almaden Expressway literally dead-ends. That is how deep this project is into Almaden. The silver lining is you can go horseback riding or visit one of San Jose's most romantic and isolated restaurants, La Foret, with a short drive.

Based on the area, I think most of these homes will likely go for around $1,000/SQFT, so you're probably looking at a range of $2M-$3M depending on how wide the range of home sizes will be.

Source: SF YIMBY

San Jose becomes the first city in California to allow homeowners to sell ADUs

In order to solve for housing shortages, skyrocketing rents, and dizzying mortgages we have to think outside the box. San Jose just took a significant step to increase the housing supply and provide more low cost options.

San Jose already is one of the most accommodating cities when it comes to building an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) on your property. On a typical single-family lot, a homeowner can build a detached ADU up to 1,000 SQFT or an attached ADU up to 800 SQFT. Now, instead of just renting out the ADU, you can actually sell it as a condominium.

This will encourage more people to built them in their backyards and open up low-cost homeownership for more people, especially those early on in their careers. Some ADUs are quite nice, like the 500 SQFT one mentioned in the source link below.

San Jose is already receiving four times as many requests to build ADUs as San Francisco. In fact, even homebuilders like Robson Homes are including them as options for new housing projects in San Jose. 

Source: ABC7 News

100+ affordable homes proposed for 1207 North Capital Avenue

A new project between Alum Rock and Berryessa would add 129 affordable homes in a five-story building right across the street from VTA Light Rail. The proposal has 13,000 SQFT of communal spaces including lounges, fitness facilities, and outdoor spaces.

The location is an easy walk to three different retail centers that have multiple restaurants, a clothing store, and a Safeway. BART is also just three Light Rail stops away.

Today this site is just an empty lot at 1207 North Capital Avenue so very little demolition and prep work would be necessary. Unfortunately, there is no timeline for groundbreaking and construction.

Source: The Mercury News

1,472 new homes headed to Seely Avenue in North San Jose

There are only a few empty lots left for development in North San Jose, one one of those is at Montague Expressway and Seely Avenue right along the Coyote Creek. The land currently has farmland and orchards, which somehow have survived over the decades right in the middle of Silicon Valley.

The proposal on the table today would add 1,472 residential units and retail between three developers: Hanover Company, Pacific Companies, and SummerHill Homes. The total project would be a whopping 2.3 million SQFT, with 1.7 million SQFT for housing, half a million SQFT for parking, and 16,120 SQFT for retail. 

Most of the housing would be 1,140 market-rate apartments which would wrap around a new public park. 178 units would be affordable housing and 154 units would be townhomes. Of the apartments, 159 would be studios, 737 are one-bedrooms, 368 are two-bedrooms, and 54 are three-bedrooms. Parking would support 1,967 cars and 944 bicycles.

Construction would last about four years from the initial groundbreaking, for which there is no ETA yet.

Source: SF YIMBY

New renders for impressive Willow Glen apartment midrise

A midrise proposal at 940 Willow Street has a new look. The 86-foot-tall project will be just a couple blocks away from San Jose's ritzy Downtown Willow Glen neighborhood. Excellent restaurants like The Table, Copia, and Bill's are a five minute walk away.

The building will total 183,750 SQFT, half of which is for housing, 15,600 SQFT is amenity space, a whopping 56,200 SQFT will be for parking, and 1,800 SQFT is allocated for retail. There will be a total of 126 apartment units (26 designated as affordable) and 135 parking spaces. The product mix will be: 52 studios, 50 one-bedrooms, 20 two-bedrooms, and four townhome-style units with three bedrooms at street level.

The design is beautiful, especially for a midrise building. I like the pool area and podium cutouts. I've included a few bonus renders on other projects this design studio is working on at the bottom which are also in San Jose.

A single-story commercial building will need to be torn down (image below) and I think you'll agree the tradeoff is worth it. There is no current ETA, but the sooner the better.

Source: SF YIMBY, siliconvalleyjoe from Skyscraper City

What this area looks like now in Willow Glen:

Bonus render for another proposal at 4th & Julian in Downtown San Jose:

Bonus render for another proposal at Alvin Ave. in East San Jose:

New Costco mixed-use concept adds residential housing

Costco already sells everything else in bulk, why not add apartments to the list and help out with our housing crisis? That is exactly what they are doing in LA (Baldwin Village/Crenshaw area in South LA).

The new concept combines a 185,000 SQFT Costco Wholesale store with 800 residential units, 184 of which are set aside for low-income renters. The units are all contained in a five-story mid-rise building on top of the Costco along with amenities like a basketball court, lounge areas, and multiple courtyards. To make it as affordable as possible, the apartments are on the smaller side and are mostly prefabricated and installed in modules like Legos.

The parking for both the Costco and the residential units are all underground across multiple levels. In fact, they will dig almost as deep as the building is tall. The project also happens to be close to transit, although that might not be the best option if you are purchasing bulk items.

What is relevant for San Jose is they plan to roll out this concept outside of LA in the near future. San Joseans love their Costco's and we are about to get our first one with parking on the roof so that it can fit in a more urban area (West San Jose). So the question is, would this mixed-use concept make sense in San Jose? It could be a relatively quick way to add large amounts of housing by remodeling existing locations or as part of future Costco projects in Silicon Valley.

Source: SF GATE

Google might bring an affordable housing project to Downtown San Jose

Google still has one foot in the door for their ambitious Downtown San Jose plans. A mixed-used project with millions of square feet of office buildings in a neighborhood now dubbed "Downtown West" have been put on hold, but Google has continued some of their projects to build culture and vibrancy around the new district. Now it looks like they might move forward with an affordable housing project where an old Orchard Supply Hardware store once stood (San Jose company btw).

Earlier this year they razed a building at 720 West San Carlos and now they are evaluating building an affordable housing project on this site. If there were to move forward, it would signal that Google is still serious about investing in Downtown San Jose. If they return to the original plan, up to 20,000 employees could be working in of the capital of Silicon Valley. The economic impact and cultural impact would be significant, especially considering Google has some of the highest median salaries of any company on Earth.

Source: The Mercury News