SAN JOSE — A huge mixed-use development with more than 1,000 homes and a Whole Foods that would revamp a high-profile San Jose retail center is headed for a key city hearing regarding an updated report on the project.
The redevelopment of the El Paseo de Saratoga retail and restaurant complex in southwest San Jose has been in the works for years ever since busy Bay Area developer Peter Pau and his firm Sand Hill Property Co. paid $146.6 million for the property in 2019.
At the time, a representative for Sand Hill Property described the purchase of El Paseo de Saratoga as a long-term investment.
Over time, though, Sand Hill Property began to pitch a dramatic re-imagining of the center at the confluence of Saratoga Avenue, Lawrence Expressway and Quito Road as a village that would be a smaller version of the iconic Santana Row destination center in San Jose.
At present, the redevelopment of the project would produce 1,100 residential units and 165,000 square feet of commercial space, including a Whole Foods grocery store. The housing and commercial space would be developed within four new buildings on the project site.
In a major change from previous versions of this project, Sand Hill Property has scrapped plans for an 11-story mixed-use tower and replaced that highrise with a one-story building.
The overall amount of housing won’t change, though. The 239 residential units that would exit the shorter building would be allocated within the other three buildings that would be developed as part of the center’s revamp.
Along the way, the revised proposals have triggered a legal challenge from a citizens group.
Among the project’s political and legal milestones:
— In June 2022, the San Jose City Council approved the overall concept of the redevelopment, including the Whole Foods store totaling 43,000 square feet.
— In July 2022, Citizens for Inclusive Development filed a lawsuit to challenge San Jose’s approval process. The group’s big objection: The city, while noting that the commercial space would include a grocery store or a supermarket, didn’t specifically reveal the store would be a Whole Foods Market.
— In August 2023, a Santa Clara County judge ruled against the group and in favor of the city of San Jose.
— On Sept. 27, the group appealed the county judge’s decision to the state Court of Appeal. The state court has yet to act.
While that has been going on, the city, as required by its own rules, continues to move the final and revised environmental review process forward.
The revised environmental impact report that reflects the shorter building and reallocation of the housing units to other buildings is slated to be heard by the Planning Director’s Office on Nov. 29, city documents show.
In 2021, ahead of the city’s approval of the project, numerous residents of San Jose or adjacent cities such as Saratoga wrote to city officials to voice their opinions about the massive redevelopment endeavor.
At least 43 letters were sent to San Jose officials that had nearly the same wording, stating that the housing doesn’t create affordable homes.
“NONE of these 1,100 units are for low-income/below-market housing,” at least 43 letters stated. At least 42 of those same 43 letters stated, “This project is wrong for the area. Building south of most of the Valley’s job areas will make commuting worse.”
One resident of the area, Marlene Coe, a resident of Monte Sereno for 27 years, gave her unique perspective and warned San Jose officials that the area around El Paseo de Saratoga already is experiencing gridlock and that the new development would only worsen matters.
“I cannot imagine having more housing built in that small area,” Coe wrote in 2021. “It will only add to the gridlock. The streets cannot handle the extra traffic. I hope you will seriously reconsider the plans as they currently are for the housing as well as more businesses in that small triangle of space.”
Some residents, however, said they supported the proposal. Tony Marsh of Saratoga was among the backers of the redevelopment plan.
“I’m a long-time Saratoga resident, having lived in the city since 1979,” Marsh wrote in 2021. “I am all for the El Paseo de Saratoga project. We need more mixed-use, high-density projects in appropriate locations and this project fits the bill.”