SAN JOSE — City staffers have approved a San Jose apartment complex tied to the municipality’s plans to buy a historic building from the same real estate group that is developing the residences.
A neighborhood group, however, has decided to appeal the city Planning Department’s approval on Wednesday. The San Jose City Council would be obliged to evaluate the merits of any appeal that’s filed regarding the project.
The eight-story apartment project, known as The Gifford, would produce 276 apartments at 470 West San Carlos St. in downtown San Jose. An affiliate of Urban Catalyst, a Bay Area real estate firm, aims to develop the residential project.
The planning staff’s approval arrives on the heels of a preliminary decision by the city council to pay $3.6 million to buy a historic downtown property known as the Knox-Goodrich building at 26 through 36 South First St. An Urban Catalyst affiliate owns the building and would sell it to the city.
But Erik Solivan, San Jose’s housing director, said during the council meeting in June that the deals would proceed separately and with sufficient scrutiny.
“These two things are bridged together, but they are not in any way tied together,” Solivan said. “Approval of one does not fast-track approval of the other.”
Stakeholders + Neighborhoods Initiative, a group formed by some residents who live near the development site for the proposed apartments, have raised concerns about the project.
Kathy Sutherland, president of Stakeholders + Neighborhoods, lamented what she saw as the planning staff’s decision to discard design standards that considered the views of residents yet gave developers certainty about project guidelines.
“We saw our years of dedication to the city thrown out when a developer made the arbitrary claim that the development would no longer ‘pencil out.’ Where is the proof?” Sutherland said, referring to The Gifford apartments proposal.
The neighborhood group believes the project contains some unwelcome design features, including a section of the new building that would be directly next to existing single-family homes.
“Urban Catalyst proposes an eight-story building that, by the city’s own analysis, is ‘a building with no setbacks’ at the shared property line with our homes,” Stakeholders + Neighborhoods wrote in the letter.
Stakeholders + Neighborhoods Initiative noted that typical design guidelines in downtown areas near the Diridon train station require projects to have a step-back arrangement so they don’t loom over existing homes.
As with any appeal of a staff-approved project, the City Council’s options would be to uphold the appeal or reject the appeal.
San Jose officials believe the purchase of the historic building and development of The Gifford would greatly benefit the city’s downtown district.
“The Gifford, along with Urban Catalyst’s Icon-Echo Apartments, Gateway Residential Tower by CORE Developers, and the Bank of Italy conversion to residential units by Westbank, will spur a revitalization” in downtown San Jose, city staffers wrote in a memo to the City Council that was prepared for the June 16 meeting.
Councilmember Anthony Tordillos said at the June 16 meeting that the deal will help the city achieve its housing goals and noted that San Jose is buying the building for 60% less than what Urban Catalyst paid.
“This is a slam dunk for the city,” Tordillos said, emphasizing San Jose in 2025 hit only 33% of its targeted mandate for the creation of new housing units. “We need all the housing we can get.”
Despite the assertions from Councilmember Tordillos and other city officials, Sutherland insisted that city planners didn’t do their jobs regarding the proposed apartment complex.
“The project was not evaluated properly by planning staff,” Sutherland said. “It really comes down to lack of evidence supporting what they claim.”