New plans have been revealed for a seven-story apartment block at 940 Willow Street in Willow Glen, San Jose. The project could replace a liquor store and fitness center with 126 new homes above retail, including some affordable housing. REDCO Development is responsible for the pre-application.
Studio Current is the project architect. Renderings shared by the Bay Area News Group show the podium-style building rising with solid material, either stone or board-formed concrete, wrapped around the base, three floors of plain white stucco forming the midsection, and a setback top two floors wrapped in grey. Balconies will punctuate the exterior, providing many residents with some in-unit access to fresh air. The ground level will include around 1,800 square feet of retail.
940 Willow Street, image via Google Street View
The project applicant hopes to use Senate Bill 330 to have a streamlined ministerial approval process. The legislation states that it “prohibits a local agency from disapproving, or conditioning approval in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households or an emergency shelter unless the local agency makes specified written findings based on a preponderance of the evidence in the record.”
The 0.8-acre property is located on the south side of Willow Street between Curtiss Avenue and Kotenberg Avenue. The neighborhood’s primary retail thoroughfare, Lincoln Avenue between Willow and Minnesota Avenue, is just three blocks away. Residents will be just 12 minutes on bicycle from Diridon Station and 15 minutes from Downtown San Jose.
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The is a great location within Willow Glen to add needed housing. Locals will complain that it
does not fit into the neighborhood but it’s actually perfect considering this part of willow is between two commercial areas and includes other apartment buildings.
Great location but could it be four or five stories? The reduced height would still tower over the other buildings in the area. Wonder if the reduced height could still meet current laws.
This project will create significant traffic and parking problems on the neighborhood surface streets. Thise streets are already very narrow with very little street parking. Fast tracking a project while foresaking the local beighborhood is awful.
This project will create significant traffic and parking problems on the neighborhood surface streets. Those streets are already very narrow with very little street parking. Fast tracking a project while foresaking the local neighborhood is awful.