San Jose retail center could be replaced by affordable housing project

More than 100 units are being planned at San Jose site

SAN JOSE, Calif. — An affordable housing development with well over 100 units is being considered for a San Jose site currently occupied by a small retail strip center, a new example of the Bay Area’s rapidly changing real estate landscape.

The proposed development would be located near the Almaden Expressway at 1190 Hillsdale Ave.

According to a proposal filed with the San Jose Planning Department, the proposed development would include 160 apartments.

The project’s residences are described as “affordable multifamily units,” according to very preliminary plans on file at City Hall.

As the prospects for office buildings and retail centers become murkier in the aftermath of the pandemic, real estate firms have increasingly turned to housing as a more fundamentally sound development option.

It was unclear which real estate development firm had proposed the project. The proposal was submitted by an architectural firm.

According to the planning documents, the project applicant wishes to expedite the city planning review of the proposal by utilizing provisions in a state law known as SB 330. SB 330 can be used to limit the amount of red tape that local governments can put in the way of a project proposal.

According to a marketing brochure distributed by California Partners, a real estate firm, the property where the project would be built is currently a boarded up retail strip center that was put up for sale in September 2022.

According to the brochure, the center is for sale with an asking price of $3.5 million. The center is located near the Capitol Expressway auto dealerships on the corner of Hillsdale Avenue and Newberry Avenue.

According to a real estate database, the property is currently owned by San Jose residents Anastasios Papapsomas and Argiroula Papapsomas.