New affordable housing has officially opened at 1221 Lick Avenue next to Tamien Station in San Jose, Santa Clara County. The Tamien Station Apartments is a 135-unit transit-oriented development built to replace a surface parking lot owned by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. The Core Companies is the project developer.
1197 Lick Avenue Concept Rendering, image by Studio T-Square
Tamien Station Apartments is the first of a three-phase master plan led by Core Companies and Republic Urban Properties. Full build-out is expected to add over four hundred dwelling units to the VTA-owned property across three buildings. Mid-last year, the developers pivoted from market-rate to affordable housing for one of the two remaining phases, which also decreased the potential unit count from 219 to 132 units. The timeline for future construction has yet to be shared.
The six-story building includes 135 apartments, a day care center, a fitness room, an on-site laundry, a rooftop playground, and a shared food pantry. Residential unit sizes will vary, with 20 studios, 44 one-bedrooms, 37 two-bedrooms, and 34 three-bedrooms.
1197 Lick Avenue Project Location and Transportation Access, image via San Jose Planning
The project has opened with 67 units for rapid rehousing of unhoused people, and 67 units for low-income households earning between 50-60% of the area’s median income. One unit is set aside for the on-site property manager.
Studio T Square and BDE Architects are listed as the project architects. HMH is consulting on landscape architecture. At full build-out, the three podium-style structures will be embellished with red-tile roofing, horizontal stone tiles, and Juliet balconies. Landscaped pathways will follow roadways between the buildings.
1221 Lick Avenue, image via California HCD
The 1.6-acre property is located along Lick Avenue and parallel to the Guadalupe Parkway. Residents will overlook the Tamien Caltrain and VTA light rail station.
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Need more high rise housing…
I’ll assume you’re not implying this is a high-rise… Regardless, we absolutely don’t ‘need’ more high-rise housing. We need higher-density housing along and near transit lines and thoroughfares. High-rises only work in places where there’s little land and already a greater density.
Great! More of this please.
100% agree
why is the architecture so disneyland-y vegas-y faux-italiano? and that giant mulch area with almost no plants is pretty sad. can we not do better?
“Oh, ‘low‑income housing.’ What a beautiful fantasy. Because clearly it’s super easy to get into these magical programs, right? Meanwhile I make a little over 40k, I’m single, I work full-time, and somehow I’m still priced out of everything. Amazing.
This whole place runs on underpaid workers — the people everyone depends on but nobody wants to support. But sure, let’s pretend the system is fair. Let’s pretend the process is transparent. Let’s pretend anyone who isn’t already plugged into the system has a chance.
Nothing is clear, nothing is accessible, and nothing is designed for people who actually work for a living. We’re just expected to figure it out while juggling bills, rent, and everything else.
But hey, that’s America: work hard, follow the rules, and still get shut out.”
Nothing is ever made to work forever, it’s up to us as a community to help each other does a billionaire require all the money , he or she makes it why can’t they keep it right, that’s greed if there is a piles you take more than what you need that’s greed, people don’t like greedy people, look out for your neighbor, grab one for them or help them up if they can’t stand, we sometimes need help, don’t kick someone when there already down…