More than 100 homes could displace a longstanding, landmark hotel in Los Gatos.
The Los Gatos Planning Commission unanimously recommended a proposed 155-townhome development Wednesday that would replace the Los Gatos Lodge. San Ramon-based SummerHill Homes is slated to develop the project at 50 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road on roughly 8.9 acres. Plans for the three-story development include 26 affordable homes and 330 parking spaces.
The development will include a pedestrian path from the road to Los Gatos High School just south of the project, along with an added emergency exit for students and future residents. SummerHill Homes could have invoked builder’s remedy — a controversial state law that gives municipalities less control over housing projects by allowing developers to bypass local zoning and development standards — but didn’t in an effort to work with the town. The Town Council must approve the development before it moves forward.
Planning Commissioner Steven Raspe said he supported the project because it worked well with the location, a portion of which also borders Highway 17. The project is the first Senate Bill 330 application the commission has reviewed. SB 330 can be enacted when municipalities are late receiving state approval on mandated housing plans, making it easier to build affordable and moderately priced housing.
“This is a well-designed project, probably the best that we’re going to do in this site,” Raspe said at the meeting. “It’s a site that’s perfectly suited for multi-family housing.”
The Los Gatos Lodge, a town icon since opening in 1958, will be demolished if the project goes through. The hotel is a common meeting place for community service organizations, including the Los Gatos Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Los Gatos.
Cecilio Reyes, general manager of the lodge, said he and most of the staff haven’t thought much about what will happen if the development gets approved because it’s been a slow-moving process since SummerHill Homes submitted plans in 2023. He said there is room for some employees to move to different positions under the hotel owner. Reyes added the project could fall through, preserving the historic hotel for a while longer.
“A lot of people just have fond memories, especially if they got married here, had high school reunions,” he told San José Spotlight. “It’s just the history that it has.”
Despite that, the community is largely supportive of the development even with concerns about traffic. A traffic study found the project won’t generate much more traffic than the hotel does now.
Los Gatos identified the site as a prime development location in its state-mandated housing plan. The town must create at least 1,993 homes by 2031 to comply with the state, 847 of which must be deemed affordable to low-income residents.
Nico Flores, a Los Gatos resident of roughly five years, said the development could create an opportunity for him and his family to stay in town on an educator’s salary. He said keeping that stability for his two children in the town they love is critical.
“It feels like I have peace now,” he told San José Spotlight. “I (could) keep my family here and continue to be a part of the town I’m invested in.”
The project is one of more than 10 developments submitted to Los Gatos using SB 330. It had less controversy than others, including a plan to put more than 175 condos at the Ace Hardware location.
SummerHill Homes has also built the homes at Bellaterra @ North 40 as part of one of the larger housing projects in town.
Kevin Ebrahimi, senior vice president of development at SummerHill Homes, said the developer prides itself on the quality of its homes and communities. He said the public benefits this project could provide, including solar panels on every home, will help more than those those who live there.
“We believe that the project will be a valuable asset to the community, helping the town meet the demand for housing so they can sustain a thriving, multi-generational community,” he said.
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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