A shuttered elementary school in San Jose may become an affordable housing site, much to the chagrin of nearby residents. The Oak Grove School District is in early negotiations to sell or lease the Glider Elementary School site to The True Life Communities, a real estate firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. “True Life Communities has...
San Jose co-living housing project still dormant
San Jose was once set to host the largest co-living building in the world. But financial struggles and a torrent of lawsuits have all but killed that plan. Housing advocates now hope the space can be used for affordable housing. The lot at 199 Bassett Street in downtown San Jose remains empty after plans to...
San Jose squashes proposal for prefab homeless housing
The week started with San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan announcing an ambitious proposal for housing up to 5,000 homeless residents on public land by the end of next year. His colleagues killed the plan before the week was out. Mahan told San José Spotlight he’s disappointed by the outcome of Wednesday’s Rules and Open Government Committee meeting,...
Santa Clara County could spend $25 million on prefab homeless shelters
Building more housing is the key to fighting the growing homelessness crisis in Santa Clara County. Two officials want to give a local nonprofit $25 million to do so. Supervisors Joe Simitian and Otto Lee announced a proposal Thursday to grant LifeMoves, the region’s largest temporary housing provider, a multi-million dollar contract to help it...
UPDATE: San Jose commission defers decision on student housing high-rise
San Jose State students will have to wait even longer for a place to live near campus, following delayed approval of a high-rise apartment tower. A decision on a downtown student housing project has been deferred another month following an appeal from a neighboring property owner. The San Jose Planning Commission debated Wednesday over how...
San Jose unveils new goals to solve homelessness
San Jose aims to cut its homeless population by 20% by the end of next year through a new initiative to provide more housing and job stability. Mayor Sam Liccardo, joined by Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez, Dev Davis and Pam Foley, announced a plan called “Compassionate and Clean San Jose” Wednesday that would triple the number...
Silicon Valley residential development booming, but not affordable
Rental rates are going up and affordable homes are scarce in Silicon Valley, a regional think tank says. Four out of 10 multi-family renter households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, according to a recent report from the Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies. This is considered a moderate to severe financial...
How do new state laws affect San Jose’s Opportunity Housing?
San Jose was considering a bold strategy to densify housing when a state law effectively abolished single-family zoning across California. Proponents claim the local vision is far from dead. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bills 9 and 10 into law last week that could dramatically increase housing density in residential neighborhoods by allowing the development of up...
Neighbors decry safe parking site for San Jose homeless
A coalition of San Jose residents are fuming that their elected leader left them out of discussions about a safe parking site for homeless individuals in their neighborhood. An empty parking lot in North San Jose just south of Highway 237 holds at least four RVs and four unhoused residents after close to 70 people were swept from an encampment...
San Jose councilmember proposes prefab housing for homeless
San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan has a solution to help end homelessness: Prefabricated homes on public land. That’s the proposal the District 10 councilmember will bring before the city’s Rules Committee on Wednesday. He hopes San Jose and Santa Clara County can identify sites to build prefabricated units, or housing that can be assembled quickly off-site while a foundation is being...