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River Oaks Parkway Rendering, Image credit: Valley Oak Partners

Five major residential projects are in the works for North San Jose with a potential for over 3,200 new homes, including 700 affordable to lower-income households, and additional millions of dollars in fees to support affordable housing throughout the city. Building new homes in North San Jose has been a central part of the city’s planned residential growth, with 32,000 new homes accounting for over a quarter of the total in the 2040 General Plan. Critically, the area has a requirement that 20% of these new homes be affordable, a commitment that was renewed by the City Council in 2022 when it adopted new tools to spur both market rate and affordable development in the area. While early waves of development were allowed to skirt the requirements, the current plans appear to show that the new policies are beginning to work.   

The Proposed Developments

The new mixed-income development proposals under review include: 

  • 2011-2018 River Oaks Parkway with 737 proposed new homes; 
  • 210 Bay Point Parkway mixed-use project with 434 townhouses and apartment units;
  • The historic Sakauye Farm Site, approved for over 1,400 new homes.

In addition, there are two 100% affordable development proposals, totalling 288 homes:

These proposed affordable communities have already been entitled and received either city or state funding commitments. 

In total, the planned developments promise just over 22% of the total proposed units as affordable housing. The proposed developments are in great locations. Some are only a short walk from the new Agnew schools complex, and most are near existing residential areas and will support retail development in new communities.

The Long Path to Housing Affordability in North San Jose

The 20% affordable housing goal for North San Jose dates back to the requirements of the Redevelopment Authority. Originally planned for four phases with 8,000 homes in each, the policy incurred challenges when only 432 affordable units were built in Phase I, falling short of the 1,600 affordable units allocated. After Phase I, development in North San Jose stalled, due to traffic improvement projects required by the County and neighboring Santa Clara. With direct advocacy from SV@Home, the mayor at the time, Sam Liccardo, kept the potential alive as a top priority in the Housing Crisis Workplan adopted in 2018 and reaffirmed by council in 2019. Working together, the Office of Economic Development, the Planning Department, the Housing Department, affordable housing advocates, and the north San Jose Councilmember Cohen, crafted a strategy in 2022 as a part of the Housing Element Update. The changes opened up significantly more land for residential development in return for a set of policies, such as overlay districts reserved for affordable or mixed-income development, to achieve the 20% affordability requirement. 

The Path Ahead

These projects are not breaking ground yet, but the ongoing work of the city coordinated with Councilmember Cohen’s office to engage with the project developers has created significant momentum behind all five sites. SV@Home continues to track certain details that we find critical to North San Jose growing equitably and sustainably, contributing to a San Jose where all residents flourish. First, the density of these projects hovers around 75 units per acre, which is the minimum and far short of the up to 250 units per acre hoped for in the area plan. Ideally, additional changes can be made to the project designs to better optimize the use of the limited areas open to development. Otherwise, the city may have to make more land available to reach its goals of 32,000 homes in the area. Second, some of the details about how the mixed-income developments will conform with the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance remain unclear.  We will keep watch and share progress here, but this is really good news for a city that commits to equitable access to new communities as it grows.