The second phase of one of Los Gatos’ largest and most controversial development projects is one step closer to a vote after years of delays and revisions.
The Los Gatos Planning Commission began discussing phase two of the North 40 project Wednesday, which includes 450 homes and more than 15,000 square feet of retail space along Los Gatos Boulevard and Burton Road. Developers Grosvenor and Eden Housing’s proposal includes 77 affordable homes — with 16 reserved for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities — 127 townhomes and about 250 apartments in buildings ranging from three to seven stories. It also proposes about 8 acres of open space and 768 parking spaces on the site’s approximately 15.6 acres.
The project would demolish eight single-family homes and more than 100 walnut trees, a vestige of the site’s agricultural past under property owner Yuki Farms. Grosvenor and Yuki Farms are working with the existing residents so they can move back once the project is completed. Grosvenor could have invoked builder’s remedy, a state law allowing developers to bypass local zoning codes if a town is late getting state approval on its housing plan, but chose not to. The planning commission will review the project again at a later date once its environmental review is finished, before the development heads to Town Council.
Commissioner Rob Stump wanted to ensure developers didn’t go back on the promised affordable housing if the town council approves the project — a sticking point for the commission because previous proposals included more affordable homes. The well-heeled town doesn’t have many affordable housing options. The average annual household income was $207,891 between 2019 and 2023, according to U.S. Census data.
“We need more affordable housing,” Stump said at the meeting. “This project is yielding 77 units. Wouldn’t it be great if it could yield a few more? We hear the need.”
Steve Buster, Grosvenor senior vice president of development of American properties, said the developer included as much affordable housing as possible while keeping the project financially feasible. He said if the project is approved, it could become a vibrant hub.
“My hopes are that we can start as soon as possible and get housing built and delivered to town,” Buster told San José Spotlight. “There’s definitely a need for renters and for new buyers and new owners that want to live in Los Gatos, and that’s really hard to do.”
The project site is a prime development location in Los Gatos’ housing plan. The town must build nearly 2,000 homes by 2031 to comply with state mandates, 847 of which must be affordable to low-income residents.
A few residents voiced concerns about the effects the development could have on the surrounding neighborhoods at the commission meeting, but more than a dozen people spoke in support of it. That support was largely because of the affordable housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Los Gatos resident Katherine Mancuso said she’d love if her 28-year-old son, who is part of the disabled community, could live in town. He’s lived in a supportive apartment in Santa Clara for about a year. But he doesn’t drive and Mancuso wants him closer to his support network.
“We owe it to them to give them a place to live,” she told San José Spotlight. “It’s sad that our demographics in Los Gatos don’t include our children and grandchildren.”
The project has been decades in the making, with North 40 first envisioned in the 1990s. Grosvenor entered the scene in 2008 and received approval for the controversial first phase in 2017, including 320 homes and about 66,000 square feet of retail. It initially promised 270 affordable homes, but only 50 were built for older adults.
Pamela Emanuel lives in one of those homes and supports the second phase of development. She said more affordable housing creates more opportunities for Black and brown residents like her to move there and diversify the predominantly white town. She’s been part of the community for 20 years and couldn’t afford to live in Los Gatos without the affordable apartment.
“(It’s) total relief… knowing that I can be able to afford to pay my rent and not have to move out of the community that I’ve raised my kids in all these years,” Emanuel told San José Spotlight.
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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