SAN JOSE — An affordable housing complex could be fast-tracked in downtown San Jose through a speedy approval process for the proposed development.
The project would be located at 501 South Almaden Ave. next to Balbach Street in San Jose, city planning files show.
501 South Almaden Avenue, an apartment complex in downtown San Jose, concept. View is from Balbach Street. (Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects)
The latest proposal for the project envisions a 99-unit, nine-story apartment complex, according to the proposal. Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, the project’s developer, had initially proposed a 53-unit project at the site.
View looking north of an apartment complex at 501 South Almaden Avenue in downtown San Jose, concept. (Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects)
The development would be built next to a residential project that Satellite Affordable Housing Associates has developed at the corner of South Almaden Boulevard and Balbach Street, an affordable housing complex known as Arya.
In the newly proposed project on South Alamden Avenue, Satellite Housing intends to utilize provisions of state law SB 35 to expedite the process.
Apartment complex at 501 South Almaden Avenue in downtown San Jose, concept. (Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects)
SB 35 applies to projects in cities that haven’t built enough housing to meet state-mandated residential development targets.
The law’s provisions eliminate the requirement that projects undergo discretionary hearings by municipal panels such as the Planning Commission or City Council. SB 35 also curbs reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
The proposed housing development is expected to be 100% affordable. The project will consist of 67 studios, 31 one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit, the project plans show.