SAN JOSE — An affordable homes project being eyed on the former San Jose site of a domed movie complex is getting a bit bigger and is being pitched through a “builder’s remedy” gambit.
The proposed housing development would be constructed at 741 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, the site of the former Century 24, a domed movie house, according to documents filed in July with city planners.
The current development plans envision a 264-unit, seven-story residential building at the site, the San Jose planning files show. That’s somewhat larger than a previous proposal for 257 units.
The Century 24 movie house has already been bulldozed. A fitness center at one point had been proposed for the property, but those plans have been scrapped.
The developer is SyRes Properties LLC, according to a July 5 filing with the city. SyRes is a unit of Syufy Enterprises, which for decades owned and operated a string of Century Theaters movie houses known for their domed structures.
The 264 units will consist of 35 studios, 113 one-bedroom apartments and 116 two-bedroom apartments, according to the project plans.
Potentially, 52 or 53 of the units could be affordable, according to a letter written by attorneys with Holland & Knight, a law firm that is representing SyRes Properties in its development efforts with San Jose.
“The project will reserve 20% of its units at rents that are affordable to low-income households,” Holland & Knight attorneys Tamsen Plume and Genna Yarkin wrote in a letter to San Jose city officials.
As a result of this, the proposed complex qualifies as a housing development project “for very low, low-, or moderate-income households,” the Holland & Knight attorneys stated in their letter to city officials.