Construction work has topped out for the Winchester Apartments, a seven-story apartment complex rising at 500 Charles Cali Drive in San Jose. The development is part of a larger master plan from Pulte Group to replace the former Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Park across from the Winchester Mystery House and Santana Row. The Hanover Company purchased the apartment project from the Pulte Group last year.
The 15.7-acre master plan by Pulte will be developed with 688 units and an over three-acre public park. The overall housing will include 90 four-story row homes, 158 units of four-story condominiums, 72 units of four-story flats, and 368 units in the apartment building.
Winchester Apartments overlooking the I-280 freeway entrance, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
The seven-story project will span just 3.45 acres. Unit sizes will vary from studios to three-bedrooms, and parking will be included for 515 cars and 368 bicycles.
KTGY is responsible for the design. The project is a typical podium-style design. Facade materials include stucco, metal accents, and tile veneer along the first floor. Civil Engineering Associates is the civil engineer, and VanderToolen Associates is the landscape architect. Property amenities will include several courtyards, private and communal rooms for interaction, a fitness center, podium-capping pool, dog run, screening room, cafe, and co-working areas.
Winchester Apartments and the Winchester Mystery House seen from across the street, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
500 Charles Cali Drive site map, illustration by VanderToolen Associates
500 Charles Cali Drive seen from the I 280, rendering by KTGY
The building is rising directly across from one of San Jose’s most active tourist destinations, the Winchester Mystery House. In designing the Winchester Apartments, KTGY writes that the massing creates “a respectful relationship with the neighboring Mystery House, with the nothern facing side of the massing humbly melting into the mansion’s gardens.” KTGY goes on to share that “the building’s natural color composition is enhanced with a stylized and transparent skin-style frontage and glassy front entrances…”
Speaking at the groundbreaking event, Fred Metzger, director of design at KTGY, stated that the final design is “a thoughtfully designed community that seamlessly blends historic elements with modern touches and a desirable, protected gem for residents to live, work and play.”
Winchester Ranch Townhomes site map, illustration by VanderToolen Associates
The Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Park had occupied the property. Before the 111 mobile homes were demolished, an agreement was reached with Pulte Homes to offer 60 of the new condominiums for existing residents at the same rental price and provide the remaining tenants with relocation packages that include moving costs, fair payment, and a year-long subsidy of rent on the future home.
Pulte purchased the site in May of 2021. Two months later, Hanover purchased the 3.45-acre site for the proposed apartment complex. Pulte has mostly built out the four-story homes.
Winchester Apartments overlooking the Winchester Mystery House, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Winchester Apartments seen from Olsen Drive, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Hanover was able to break ground on the apartment complex in late August after a $127.1 million investment from Canada-based Otera Capital Investments, according to reporting by Silicon Valley Business Journal reporter Ryan Fernandez.
The project is expected to finish by next year.
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Best of luck to the existing and future residents of this neighborhood. I was at Valley Fair a few weekends ago and the traffic situation is worse than hell itself. Adding an additional 1000 residents + 2000 cars… my god.
Projects like these are mostly about maximizing the making of money. Quality of living is a fairly low priority. For example, the city allowed the developer to go with sub-standard parking availability. It’s something like less than 1.3 spots per residence. Do you know any family who only owns 1 car? In the bay area where housing is expensive, people tend to share living spaces a lot more than the south or the midwest. So…you can imagine that there’s easily more than 1.3 cars per residence here. Like other neighborhoods in the bay area, once this place is completed and populated, parked cars will spill out onto all of the neighboring residential streets at all times day and night. A reasonable city rep would have required that this new development is “self contained”. We should call that being “green”. Pics of proof to come in 2023!
it ready for accept application yet, it is based on income.
@Barry
Nobody likes to be told this, but you were wrong, I live here now, I have a family of 4, we have one car. Parked cars have not “spilled out” onto neighboring roads as you put it (although, imo, they easily could and it still wouldn’t be a problem, those roads are ridiculously wide and underutilized, in fact, sometimes I wonder if anyone lives in the surrounding neighborhoods at all, they appear to have no life most of the time, besides all of the roaming cats)
@Pean
Sorry, the jig is up. The city prioritized my walkability over your drivability. You’ll have to drive somewhere else 🙂