A busy Campbell corner with multiple businesses could transform into more than 100 homes.
San Francisco-based City Ventures has submitted plans for a 173-home housing development with eight, 4-story buildings and another 5-story building at 700 W. Hamilton Ave. near San Tomas Expressway. Plans include 84 attached townhomes, 84 condos and five attached tiny homes. The developer is offering to make up to half of all homes affordable. If approved by the Campbell City Council, the environmentally-friendly development will include 259 parking spaces and help further Campbell’s housing goals.
The project will likely displace three businesses in the existing 3-story building: gym chain American Barbell Clubs, English-learning school California College of Communications and specialty food seller Frenchery. The businesses aren’t included in the plans.
Jason Bumgardner, president of The Bumgardner Health Group LLC which owns American Barbell Clubs, said the building’s owner told him about the possibility of the site’s development when Bumgardner bought the chain last May. Bumgardner said he’d try to secure another Campbell location if the project goes through, despite high rents.
“We love the traffic and being right there on a busy corner. We know how progress is and things have to change, so it’s something that we’re always prepared for,” he told San José Spotlight. “It’s out of our control, so we’ll just deal with it when the time comes, as best we can.”
Community Development Director Rob Eastwood said the city council will likely vote on the proposal within six months.
City Ventures, California College of Communications and Frenchery did not respond to requests for comment.
Campbell identified the site — the former home of the International Culinary Center before its 2019 closure — as a prime location for development in its eight-year, state-mandated housing plan. The city must create 2,977 homes by 2031, 1,186 of which must be affordable to low-income residents, to meet state requirements.
The development could add to an already changing area. The San Tomas neighborhood can no longer require 10 to 20-foot setbacks from home fence lines for new developments under newly passed Senate Bill 450. The bill aims to make creating duplexes and fourplexes easier, but also makes it harder for cities statewide to deny developments in neighborhoods that have historically stayed the same, such as the San Tomas neighborhood.
Mayor Sergio Lopez said while he couldn’t comment on this specific development before council discussion, the city is special because it can build critical housing while maintaining its small-town feel.
“That doesn’t mean that every neighborhood has to look and feel exactly like our downtown or like some of our residential neighborhoods,” he told San José Spotlight. “Having that variety is what really makes the community so rich and will keep it such a vibrant place to live and work.”
Campbell has a number of affordable housing projects in the pipeline, including a 100% affordable housing project at the Winchester VTA station and 16 affordable homes in a 108-home development on Llewellyn Avenue. The West Hamilton Avenue proposal would go above the city’s requirement to make 15% of its homes affordable, adding to the city’s cheaper housing stock.
Alex Shoor, executive director of housing advocacy group Catalyze SV, said Campbell is at the forefront of housing in the West Valley. He said the city has the opportunity to fix poor development decisions made over the past 50 years that affect affordability now.
“This is about real people, that our kids, our grandkids, are not going to be able to afford to live in this valley if we don’t build the housing we need,” Shoor told San José Spotlight. “Every community has to take on that responsibility.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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