Santa Clara has thousands of homes in the pipeline, but advocates are skeptical if these developments will make a dent in the shortage of affordable housing. Santa Clara has a state mandate to produce more affordable housing by 2031. The city must construct more than 11,500 homes, with less than half priced at or above market...
UPDATE: Santa Clara leaders delay decision on affordable housing
Santa Clara leaders are postponing a vote on a controversial affordable housing project until November, amid opposition from hundreds of residents. The Santa Clara City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to defer moving forward on a plan to build a five-story apartment building at 1601 Civic Center Drive. The project, managed by Charities Housing, would add...
Home sale raises eyebrows in Santa Clara race
When Santa Clara City Council candidate Larry McColloch bought a home in Santa Rosa nearly two decades ago, he promised the lender he would live in it for at least a year — potentially earning him a low interest rate. But just three months later McColloch sold the home. He never lived in it. He...
Santa Clara mayor asks Newsom to give campaign donor a break
Santa Clara’s mayor is lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom to help a major real estate firm save money on the largest mixed-use development planned in the state—months before the developer made a six-figure donation to her campaign. Mayor Lisa Gillmor wrote a letter to Newsom on March 4 advocating that Related Companies, which is developing a massive $8 billion...
Santa Clara redoing plan for El Camino Real
Santa Clara is going back to the drawing board again on an ambitious project to expand the city’s longest transit corridor—a complex transformation that has dragged on for years. The City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to have city workers revise a draft of the El Camino Real transit corridor proposal—a major road redesign that includes about...
Santa Clara mayor highlights budget, city growth in annual speech
As Santa Clara faces ongoing economic struggles exacerbated by the pandemic, the city’s mayor on Saturday presented a brighter vision for the future. During Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s first in-person State of the City address, she highlighted her administration’s approach to worsening local issues, such as homelessness. The city this past year has helped fund programs like...
Santa Clara officials say 49ers stadium tour was not a ‘gift’
Two Santa Clara officials are under investigation for allegedly accepting a gift from the San Francisco 49ers football team, which they say was an informational tour they took as part of their city leadership duties. Councilmembers Karen Hardy and Raj Chahal are accused of accepting a gift visit to the 49ers stadium, as the city...
Touchdown: Santa Clara settles lawsuit with 49ers
Three years and millions of dollars later, the San Francisco 49ers and Santa Clara have settled a high-stakes lawsuit over management of Levi’s Stadium. Three weeks after San José Spotlight first reported the NFL team’s settlement offer, Santa Clara administrators on Wednesday accepted a deal to end the litigation, according to team officials. Before signing the...
Santa Clara wants residents to ditch their cars
Santa Clara residents will soon be able to ditch the car for short distances and zoom around the city on electric scooters and bikes. Micromobility companies Bird and VEO are launching hundreds of electric scooters and bikes in Santa Clara. Bird received an operating permit on Aug. 8 and will start launching a total of 800 electric...
Final offer: 49ers tell Santa Clara officials to take it or leave it
The San Francisco 49ers are upping the ante to settle a lawsuit that’s costing Santa Clara residents millions of dollars. According to a letter obtained by San José Spotlight on Wednesday, the NFL team is now offering the city a settlement package officials say is worth $13 million when factoring in the money saved on...