SAN JOSE, Calif. — A big village proposed for a prime San Jose site is slated to add affordable housing and scrap its offices, according to revised plans that are in the final stages of the city approval process.
The latest version of the mixed-use development would bring houses, retail spaces, restaurants and a hotel — but no offices — to a site at 4300 Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose.
Stevens Creek Promenade is a village that, if built, could transform an area of San Jose near the mega malls of Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair.
The project was initially approved by the city in 2019, prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the brutal worsening of the housing shortage. With the forbidding new realities of a coronavirus-afflicted world, wide-ranging changes are now in place for the project.
When first proposed, Promenade would have featured 233,000 to 300,000 square feet of office space. The most recent proposal would include no new office space.
Another major proposed change: The number of affordable units would be doubled and the total number of residences, including low-cost and market-rate apartments, would be trimmed.
An estimated 173 affordable units would be built under the new proposal, which would be twice as many as the 87 affordable residences that were floated under prior plans for Stevens Creek Promenade.
The complex would include a total of 580 residences, slightly less than the prior plan for 582 units.
The proposed village would include a 250-room hotel in the most recent version. The prior plans didn’t envision a hotel.
The retail and restaurant space will be drastically scaled back, according to the latest proposal.
About 10,400 square feet of retail and restaurant would be built under the new proposal, considerably less than the 15,000 to 22,000 square feet that were originally proposed for the site, the city plans show. The new details are included in a revised environmental impact report that could be considered by city officials this month.
In 2020, Santa Monica-based Miramar Capital Group and Machine Investment, acting through affiliate MPG Stevens Creek Owner, paid $54.5 million for the site. The property is located on the south side of Stevens Creek Boulevard between Kiely Boulevard and Palace Road.
The revised proposals emerged in wake of the purchase by Miramar and Machine.
In another significant alteration, only three office buildings will be demolished to pave the way for the project. The original proposal envisioned the demolition of five buildings on the 9-acre site.
The new project would retain the one-story office and commercial buildings at 4360 and 4400 Stevens Creek Blvd., the documents show.
“This project fits the vision of a vibrant development where people can live, work, and play in an urban village setting,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Vice Mayor Chappie Jones stated in a February 2019 memo about the project. “It will also serve as a catalyst for future growth along Stevens Creek Boulevard.”
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