A neglected East San Jose medical building will be torn down to make way for multifamily housing.
City officials approved a mixed-use development at 2470 Alvin Ave. to replace an existing medical office building during a March 26 San Jose Planning Director’s Hearing. The nearly one-acre parcel will be redeveloped into an 8-story, 138-apartment and retail space complex in District 7. City Project Manager Alec Atienza said while the apartment complex contradicts San Jose’s zoning and general plan policies, city officials can’t deny the development since it’s classified under the state Housing Accountability Act known as builder’s remedy.
Planning department officials said 28 of the apartments or 20% would be designated as affordable for San Jose residents earning 60% of the average median income — about $2,211 in monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment.
The housing development will include 24 studios, 83 one-bedrooms, 26 two-bedrooms and five three-bedroom apartments.
While developments are subject to scrutiny, specific projects can bypass local building rules under the state’s builder’s remedy.
“The builder’s remedy is a penalty for jurisdictions that do not have a substantially compliant housing element,” Atienza said at the hearing. “As the city did not have a substantially compliant housing element at the time of submittal (in 2023), the city may not deny the project for inconsistency with the zoning ordinance or general plan land use designation.”
Jeff Current, representative for housing developers Cindy Tran and B3 Commercial, said the apartment complex is within the San Jose-designated Tully Road and South King Road urban village, which are growing neighborhoods close to public transportation.
“San Jose created urban villages throughout the city so all of the dense housing growth doesn’t just all happen in one area,” Current said at the hearing. “Our pre-application was submitted back in June of 2023 so this process has been going on for over 20 months. It’s not something that was rushed through.”
Neighbors of the future development called into the hearing to share concerns about the site being too dense for an 8-story complex.
West Evergreen Neighborhood Association President Nancy Keo said parking and traffic is already bad without the apartment and retail complex.
“You have not explained to us how construction and traffic will impact our densely populated neighborhood, with over 6,000 members,” Keo said at the hearing.”You’re just shoving the builder’s remedy down our throats without any consideration to our community.”
Tran, who was present at the hearing, did not respond to questions from residents.
Developers said they will provide 143 parking spots with the project, despite the city eliminating parking requirements, along with 72 bicycle and 11 motorcycle parking spots.
“We did go through an environmental process that included several studies, including a traffic study, which was found to be in compliance with necessary law,” Current said. “We feel this is a visionary project that meets the goals of the city of San Jose’s general plan.”
Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X.
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