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David Wulff and and Karina Gallardo Wulff were planning on leaving Santa Clara County if they couldn’t buy a house soon. The couple, who have two children, ages seven and five, had always lived in apartments. But they wanted more space and a yard, particularly for their kids to play in. The median sale price...
New tax data platform fuels Prop. 15 debate in South Bay
Proposition 15, one of the most highly-contested issues on the ballot, has given hope to those who believe it will eventually lead to changes in how residential property taxed. The measure, if approved, would require commercial and industrial properties to be taxed based on their market value rather than the price at which they were purchased....
Neighbors, planners at odds over future of Diridon Station, Google development
Neighborhood leaders argue San Jose planners continue to portray them unfairly as “anti-housing and anti-development” amid Diridon area redevelopment talks, ramping up the potential for conflict with developers down the line. All they want, say members of the Diridon Area Neighborhood Group (DANG), is for the city to pursue smart development and community engagement on...
Agrihood’s urban farm housing project poised for spring groundbreaking in Santa Clara
With the final funding in place, Agrihood’s urban farm housing project in Santa Clara can move forward after years of planning. Receiving a state grant of $50 million in tax-exempt bonds from the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee on Sept. 16 put the project on track for a March or April groundbreaking, officials said. Occupancy...
Google unveils portrait of massive downtown San Jose campus
San Jose revealed scads of new details about Google’s plans to build a sprawling downtown campus with 7.3 million square feet of office space and 4,000 housing units spread out over more than 80 acres with improvements to public amenities, including 10 parks and the trails that will eventually connect them all. San Jose Downtown...
Santa Clara County sets affordable housing requirement on new developments
Housing developers who want to build in unincorporated parts of Santa Clara County next year will, for the first time, have to set aside units for low-income residents or pay an in-lieu fee. The Board of Supervisors on Oct. 6 approved the requirement that low-income housing make up 16 percent of new developments containing three...
Partner in downtown San Jose development alleges racketeering
A federal court in San Jose is expected soon to rule on a lawsuit in which a member of a local real estate consortium has charged some of his former partners with racketeering involving a downtown parcel near the proposed Google Transit Village. The case centers around an approximately 1.2-acre site at 777 West San...
While San Jose lagged on tiny homes, one man stepped up
As San Jose struggled to build tiny homes for the city’s growing homeless population, one man decided to take matters into his own hands. Hector Garcia, president of Sleeping Bags for the Homeless, grew tired of waiting for the government to help end the suffering on the streets of Silicon Valley. So he decided to...
In pricey Silicon Valley, homebuyer perceptions — not prices — have changed
Silicon Valley’s notoriously expensive residential real estate sales may have seen a slump in March and April during the region’s restrictive shelter-in-place orders, but industry insiders say it’s still a seller’s market. The major change in the market during the pandemic has been perception by those hoping the novel coronavirus has helped to plunge sky-high...
Affordable housing: San Jose fee deadline may get pushed amid coronavirus
San Jose has been transitioning the way housing developers contribute to affordable units for years, but the coronavirus may stretch the process out even longer. The South Bay city has been working to move from a fee-based system to one that promotes actually building low-income units whenever possible and often comes with higher fees for...