SANTA CLARA — Several hundred homes could be built on a large chunk of a huge tech campus in the South Bay, a proposal that points to the ongoing and relentless shift in the Bay Area’s economy and real estate sector.
The housing would be built on a section of the Oracle office and research campus that’s near the interchange of Montague Expressway and Lafayette Street in Santa Clara, according to documents on file with city planners.
Approximately 584 residences are being eyed as part of the development, the Santa Clara city documents show.
“Valley Oak Partners is excited to present this 38-acre residential development encompassing a diverse array of housing types connected by a sophisticated network of open spaces,” Valley Oak, a San Jose-based real estate firm, stated in a document on file with city officials.
Some of the residences would be located in separate neighborhoods, according to the planning records.
Here are the types of housing that are being considered for the project:
— 416 townhomes in three distinct neighborhoods
— 120 affordable apartments
— 48 single-family homes
The proposal is emerging with the backdrop of an ongoing effort by tech titan Oracle to sell about 52.8 acres of its 81-acre campus in Santa Clara. Oracle put a section of the campus up for sale in late 2022.
The planning documents didn’t specify which parts of the campus would be converted to housing and open space redevelopment.
What is clear, however, is that the proposal to convert a segment of a tech campus into housing is part of a widening pattern of property owners attempting to replace office buildings and office projects with residential complexes.
The project would consist of much more than hundreds of residences, the proposal on file with the city shows.
“The design concept for the project is focused on open space,” Valley Oak Partners stated in the planning documents.
The open space components include a 2.6-acre active park and a 2.3-acre park near the historic Clock Tower on the campus. In addition, multiple linear green belts would link together existing parks and neighborhoods.
The campus was once the site of the Agnews State Hospital. The Clock Tower was once part of the historic Agnews site.
“The project’s open space connects to the 14.9 acre Agnews Historic Park creating an extensive open space network,” according to the development proposal.