A Cupertino assisted living facility is one step closer to being built after years of delays — but not as originally planned.
The Cupertino Planning Commission unanimously recommended changes Tuesday to an older adult assisted living facility as part of the Westport development along Stevens Creek Boulevard. Modifications to the multistory building, requested by developer Related California, include increasing the number of homes from 123 to 136 and eliminating 146 underground parking spaces. The developer also asked to decrease ground floor retail space from 17,600 square feet to 4,000 square feet — a sticking point for the commission. Commissioners added the contingency Related California could be refunded millions of dollars for park in-lieu fees if it includes 4,000 more square feet of retail space. City Council will review the changes at a later date.
Related California representatives said the changes are largely due to difficulty financing the project in an economy with skyrocketing prices. The developer is allowed concessions by the state for projects with affordable housing. Eliminating the underground parking and reducing retail space would save the developer between $15 million to $22 million.
Balint Simsik, senior vice president of development for Related California, said the decreased parking shouldn’t cause issues because many of the future older adult residents won’t be able to drive.
“There’s probably nobody in this room more than the developer that wants to see this project move forward,” he said at the meeting. “We’ve invested tremendous amounts of money to date and it doesn’t do us any favors to let the project sit like this for three years.”
Planning Commission Vice Chair Tracy Kosolcharoen had concerns about the retail reduction because she said residents want more. The site used to be the Oaks Shopping Center, with multiple stores.
But she supported it because the vote reached a fair compromise between the developer and residents.
“Westport represents an incredible opportunity to contribute to the vibrant city center many residents desire,” Kosolcharoen told San José Spotlight. “But a thriving heart of the city doesn’t just happen — it takes proactive collaboration between the city, developers and the community.”
The facility is one of the last pieces needed to complete the 8.1-acre project, which already has 88 townhomes and rowhouses and 48 affordable apartments for adults 62 and older. Residents started moving in last year. It’s unclear when the assisted living facility will be finished, but once the project is up and running, Oakmont Senior Living will run services such as memory care.
Richard Adler, chair of Age Friendly Cupertino, said Cupertino needs more housing for older adults in a city with a growing older population. The city has 221 homes for older adults across four assisted living facilities.
Adler said the development is helping create a centralized older adult community with the senior center and more older adult homes next door.
“We haven’t really, as a society, created the institutions and the systems to support (older adults),” he told San José Spotlight. “Housing is not the only (solution), but it’s a big piece of it.”
Cupertino must build 4,588 homes by 2031 to comply with state mandates. The Westport homes count toward that number.
Dianna Ferris, who has lived in a Westport apartment for about a year, wants the building to be completed, but said parking is already an issue for the completed homes. She said even if few older adults use the facility’s planned parking, it’s not realistic to expect workers to commute using Cupertino’s lacking pubic transportation.
“In 20 or 30 years, that may be my next stop and we have a dire need for housing,” Ferris told San José Spotlight. “I just don’t like the way the law is set up (for developer concessions). I don’t think it’s useful for communities like Cupertino that don’t have the infrastructure.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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