Homes, offices, retail developments eyed next to downtown San Jose

SANJOSE>> An ambitious new project is being eyed next to downtown San Jose that would add hundreds of homes along with offices and retail to a choice site near the light rail tracks on North First Street, city documents show.

The proposed mixed-use development, if approved by the city, would sprout on the south side of West Taylor Street and a half-block west of First Street, on the north edges of downtown San Jose.

As envisioned, developers intend to build 244 apartment units, 61,000 square feet of offices, and about 5,600 square feet of retail, preliminary proposals on file with the San Jose Planning Department show.

“It is a true mixed-use development where people can live, work, and play,” said Douglas Oliver, a design principal executive with Arc Tec, an architectural firm.

The site’s property owners believe the proposed development could meet an array of city goals, according to Oliver.

“It checks a lot of the city’s boxes,” Oliver said. “It would be built on a surface parking lot, so it would replace under-utilized land. It has great transit access. And the whole Santa Clara Valley really needs housing.”

The proposed project site takes up the western half of a block bounded by West Taylor Street, Miller Street, George Street, and North First Street, the planning documents show.

The site is a short distance from the main Santa Clara County government complex. It’s also a block or so from the north edge of downtown San Jose, whose boundaries and scope are gradually expanding.

“This is right next to the light rail VTA line and is close to two train stops. It is right off Highway 87,” Oliver said. “It’s in a good spot.”

City officials are attempting to create more urbanized and dense uses along that stretch of North First Street, which is a connection between downtown San Jose and the huge Silicon Valley job hubs of north San Jose.

“It’s an interesting infill development site with lots of potential near light rail,” said Bob

Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use and planning consultancy. “it could be the beginning of major revitalization of that corridor.”

Projects of this type also could bolster the light rail line and mass transit routes in the vicinity.

“Transit-oriented development is desperately needed to get the full use of light rail,” Staedler said.