Sand Hill Property Company has released detailed renderings for the approved 50-acre redevelopment of Vallco Mall in Cupertino, Santa Clara County. Located across the I-280 freeway from Apple Park, ‘The Rise’ will offer a more public mixed-use site with open space, shops, offices, and over two thousand homes. The futuristic proposal features design by the internationally acclaimed Rafael Viñoly Architects.
The Rise aerial view, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
The Rise was one of the first projects approved using Senate Bill 35 to streamline the ministerial review process. At full buildout, it would reshape the central Cupertino property with over seven million square feet of gross floor area. The mixed-use plans include approximately 2,400 residential units, 1.973 million square feet of commercial space for offices or laboratories, 429,000 square feet for retail or dining entertainment, and 40 acres of open space. A portion of that open space will be from the 29-acre green roof, surpassing Chicago’s Millennium Park to be the largest green roof in the world.
The parking capacity for cars and bicycles has not been specified. However, the project references the 15-minute city concept, imagined as an urban planning philosophy that forgoes the need for vehicles for daily activities.
The Rise plaza view, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
Rafael Viñoly Architects is responsible for the design. The firm is internationally recognized for designing 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan and the Walkie Talkie tower at 20 Fenchurch Street, London. The firm has completed a few medical projects in the Bay Area, including the 2019-built Stanford Hospital, the Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building in San Francisco, and UCSF’s Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building within the Parnassus Heights Campus.
Charged with designing a town center that reflects the city’s identity as a nexus of innovation and cutting-edge technology, The Rise reflects this with seven grand cantilevered office towers, blooming out from the roof gardens on central pillars to provide views across the South Bay.
The Rise retail entrance along the public streets, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
The dramatic architecture will, as described by Sand Hill Property, “rise naturally from the valley floor of the South Bay and become a real reference point in the landscape. The Rise will evoke the sense of positivity and vitality that Cupertino’s new downtown neighborhood will inspire in those who live, work, or visit here….”
At the street level, the project creates a new grid system. According to the project plans, “Center-court at The Rise will be the West Plaza, a unique and highly programmable destination capable of hosting major events, community gatherings, farmers markets, cultural festivals, music performances, and seasonal offerings such as harvest parties and holiday ice-skating.”
The Rise apartment outdoor deck, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
The Rise infinity pool, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
Of the over 2,400 apartments to be created, San Hill Property will make 1,201 affordable units. This exceeds the base zoning in Cupertino for affordable housing by 361 units and will expand the city’s Below Market Rate rental housing capacity by around eight times. The Rise will include rentals and for-sale units designed for family and workforce housing.
The Rise rooftop deck, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
The Rise inner-project streets, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
The following comment was provided by Reed Moulds, the managing director for Sand Hill Property Company:
The Rise is born from the global capital of innovation–Silicon Valley has changed the way the world lives, and The Rise aspires to fundamentally change how Silicon Valley lives. I am thankful to and proud of my team and our partners in the community who have worked diligently together to ensure that this project will surpass the community’s expectations, not just today but into the future. These programming details were especially informed and inspired by the evolutionary changes over the past two years, and our continuing community outreach has helped ensure we remain connected and optimistic in our vision for our post-pandemic world.”
The project will provide a stark juxtaposition with Apple Park, located just across the freeway. Designed by Foster + Partners, the project reflects the multi-trillion and multi-national company’s famed concerns for internal privacy. With The Rise, Sand Hill Property will open up 50 acres with over six miles of trails, bicycle paths, and various public amenities guided by seven years of community input.
The Rise green roof, image courtesy of Sand Hill Property Company
The Rise project site roughly outlined, image via Google Satellite
The project is expected to cost $4 billion, with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as Sand Hill’s equity partner, according to reporting by Roland Li for the San Francisco Chronicle. Vertical work is planned to begin next year in 2023.
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2M sqft office means ~20k workers. 2,400 apartments means 3-4k adults. This is not a 15 Min city, this is a high concept office park.
The voters of Cupertino repeatedly voted against this monstrosity. The deep-pocketed venture capitalists at Sandhill showered the city council with money and gift and the project magically gets green-lit. For all the people grandstanding over attacks on Democracy these days, this is a pretty glaring example.
are you lost why are you on a yimby site lol? Why would any of us care that the voters of Cupertino want to stand in the way of a pile of dirt being developed?
The word yimby has no meaning. 95% of people who call themselves yimby don’t want development in their own backyard. They are “yes in YOUR backyard”.
What about the school infra? And road and access infra?. That junction Miller and Steven creek is too crowded to take that traffic inflow into Valco with that level of development it will hurt !!. Also only one high school in all of this area. Already teacher to student ratio per class is overwhelming and student visibility for teacher is diluted…we should again raise our voice against this new development and put this on hold
sounds like you’re projecting.. Im pretty sure there are a ton of us who see car dependent suburbs full of multi million dollar mediocre homes as a failure and developments like this as a step in the right direction. I’d be happy if this was built in my backyard.
Thank you for your comment Jean Dresden (San Jose Parks Commissioner). I’ll make Sand Hill aware of your comments
“Pean Dreston” is a play on name for “Dean Preston” who is a SF supervisor with a reputation of being Nimby
Spectacular, futuristic development, will reimagine one of the hubs of Silicon Valley. The new Stanford University Hospital – one of the world’s great hospitals – is evidence of the quality of Vinoly’s work. Yes please, build it, with all due haste.
As someone else said on here, this is only a “15 minute city” for the 3-4k adults who’ll live here, the thousands more that will work here, in the shops, offices, cleaning, attending, won’t live here. Not only because they may not afford it, but because it’s literally a lot more commercial than it is housing. I tend to side with any housing is good housing, but this will add to the housing deficit.
This project looks awesome. I do think, though, that while no one is complaining about more greenery, the amount of water required to sustain the sheer number of trees and footage of lawn will be immense. I think that although this would restore much-needed greenery to the area, it would further contribute to water shortages.
shall we raze all the lawns and turn them into cement parking lots?
I am born and raised in the area and so excited for this development. I can walk there from my mom’s house. Just what the area needed and way overdue. Thank god it’s finally getting built.
God knows what he’s doing he doesn’t make any mistakes ⚡️🙏🏾☝🏾💯