SAN JOSE — Updated plans show that an affordable housing development proposed for downtown San Jose is slated to be a midrise apartment complex whose residents could help create a more lively neighborhood, updated city plans show.
The housing project would produce 173 homes and replace a surface parking lot at 143 South Third St. in San Jose.
The Sobrato Organization, in an alliance with a unit of The Pacific Companies, is seeking to build the homes on a 1.3-acre parcel near Paseo de San Antonio and adjacent to the Hammer Theatre Center.
New details show the project would be a seven-story development. Five stories would be apartments perched atop a two-story parking structure, the plans show.
Of the 173 units, 171 would be affordable apartments, and two would be market-rate units for on-site managers.
With that many units, potentially hundreds of people could live in the apartment complex. This would, in turn, add more people to downtown San Jose on a daily basis at all hours.
The filing by Pacific West Communities and Sobrato states the project will be 100% affordable.
Sobrato has owned the surface parking lot since around 2010.
The units will be rented to people in three income levels, according to the proposal.
The plans show 17 units will be rented to those in extremely low-income brackets, 17 will be rented to people at very low-income levels and 137 will be rented to others with low incomes.
In Santa Clara County, an extremely low-median income would be $42,200 for one person and $60,250 for a household of four people. A very low-median income would be $70,350 for one person and $100,450 for a four-person household. A low-median income would be $111,700 for one person and $159,550 for a household of four. The figures are based on a report the state Housing and Community Development Department produced in 2025.
The proposal is in its preliminary stages and could be altered as the San Jose review process proceeds.
Sobrato and Pacific West Communities stated in the proposal that they intend to use provisions of Senate Bill 330, a state law that was crafted to streamline local planning reviews, especially for affordable housing.
The apartment complex is expected to have a central courtyard, according to the detailed information. A pool is not referenced in the plans the city sent to this news organization.
Sites for a lounge and event center, along with a reading room, are also shown in the preliminary proposal on file at San Jose City Hall.