A 17-story San Jose housing development initially slated to be built on the Santa Clara border has failed to gain traction.

Earlier this month, the San Jose City Council unanimously blocked the construction of 135 apartments and 15,000 sq. ft. of commercial retail space planned for 826 N. Winchester Blvd. in San Jose.

The development, conceived by Value Capital Investments (VCI), drew ire from San Jose and Santa Clara neighbors alike, who turned out in droves at the June 10 council meeting. Critics said the building was too tall for the area, which would create, among other things, earthquake hazards and traffic issues.

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A memo to the council ahead of the meeting showed that even city employees didn’t support the project.

Lindy Hayes, a spokesperson for grassroots organization Concerned Cory Neighbors, pushed hard to stop the project. The council’s denial was a victory for her group. 

“We were ecstatic. We did not expect a unanimous vote. It was very much a collaborative effort. The proposal is now dead, since it did not get the requested rezoning,” Hayes wrote in an email. 

The council referred the matter to the general plan review, which will start with the planning commission in the fall.

Concerned Cory Neighbors foresees that the land will get rezoned for something other than commercial development, Hayes wrote. The group will continue to advocate to keep the zoning consistent with the neighborhood, she added.

Hayes credited a letter to the San Jose City Council from Santa Clara’s mayor and vice mayor for helping with the effort to stop the development. 

In that letter, Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Vice Mayor Kelly Cox, who represents District 6 where the Cory neighborhood lies, wrote that their opposition reflects the “overwhelming feedback” they have gotten from Santa Clara residents who live adjacent to this site.

“Our residents are not opposed to well-integrated housing solutions,” they wrote in the letter. “However, this proposal does not reflect sound, balanced planning for a transitional neighborhood of this type. The proposed height and density are not appropriate for this location and would have direct, negative impacts on adjacent Santa Clara neighborhoods.”

They closed the letter by noting that there is “strong interest in working collaboratively with the City of San José to support a more context-sensitive, appropriately scaled project.”

An email to Cox seeking comment for this story went unanswered.

Despite outcry from neighbors, housing advocates tell a different tale. Organizations such as Housing Action Coalition and Catalyze SV said the region desperately needs the housing the development would have provided.

Alex Shoor, executive director of Catalyze SV, wrote in an email that there was a notable absence of several groups at the city council meeting: students returning home after college, families working weeknights, fearful undocumented San Joseans and the next generation of area tech workers.

Catalyze SV is helping build the region for all of them, Shoor wrote.

While the council’s expressed desire for housing on the site encouraged Catalyze SV, Shoor wrote that “… among Silicon Valley’s political class, it’s easy to utter pleasant words about building housing.”

“Words are but a fleeting whisper,” he wrote. “Action drives the strong, lasting winds of change.”

State mandates require San Jose to build more than 60,000 housing units in the next six years.

Shoor challenged whether San Jose can get to those numbers if it stops developments such as the one proposed for 826 N. Winchester Blvd. His group expects the San Jose City Council to “do what it takes — including changing policies and the General Plan — to make housing feasible on this land.” 

If a new proposal aligns with his group’s values, Shoor wrote that Catalyze SV will stand by to support the proposal’s next chapter.

Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com

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