Affordable homes project grows in scope

Hundreds of apartments are eyed on site of a former movie complex

An affordable homes project being eyed on the former San Jose site of a domed movie complex is getting a bit bigger and is being pitched through a “builder's remedy” gambit.

The proposed housing development would be constructed at 741 South Winchester Blvd., the site of the former Century 24, a domed movie house, according to documents filed in July with city planners.

The current development plans envision a 264-unit, sevenstory residential building at the site, the San Jose planning files show. That's somewhat larger than a previous proposal for 257 units.

The Century 24 movie house has already been bulldozed. A fitness center at one point had been proposed for the property, but those plans have been scrapped.

The developer is SyRes Properties LLC, according to a July 5 filing with the city. SyRes is a unit of Syufy Enterprises, which for decades owned and operated a string of Century Theaters movie houses known for their domed structures.

The 264 units would consist of 35 studios, 113 one-bedroom apartments and 116 two-bedroom apartments, according to the project plans.

Potentially, 52 or 53 of the units could be affordable, according to a letter written by attorneys with Holland & Knight, a law firm representing SyRes Properties in its development efforts with San Jose.

“The project will reserve 20% of its units at rents that are affordable to low-income households,” Holland & Knight attorneys Tamsen Plume and Genna Yarkin wrote in a letter to San Jose city officials. As a result, the proposed complex qualifies as a housing development project “for very low, low-, or moderate-income households,” the Holland & Knight attorneys stated in their letter to city officials.

The attorneys also notified San Jose officials that the development firm intends to em