San Fernando Street area of Google's proposed Downtown West transit-oriented neighborhood in downtown San Jose, showing buildings in the project near a light rail line and existing building, concept.
The year ahead could be crucial for major Bay Area housing projects set to add tens of thousands of desperately needed homes. Critical planning decisions need to be made, and a turbulent economy stands to create new development challenges in a region where it’s already notoriously expensive to build.
Here are some key projects to watch in Silicon Valley and the East Bay in 2023:
Negotiations over Oakland’s ballpark project may shift
New leadership in Oakland could reframe the drawn-out negotiations over the proposed A’s ballpark project, which includes 3,000 homes, hotel, retail and commercial space at the Howard Terminal site near the harbor.
Perhaps the development’s strongest backer at the city, Mayor Libby Schaaf, is termed out. And her newly elected replacement, Councilmember Sheng Thao, has said she’ll support the project only if enough of the new housing is affordable and if the city isn’t on the hook for the hundreds of millions of dollars in necessary off-site infrastructure improvements — positions echoed by other council members.
In a candidate interview in November, Thao said she would need it “written down on paper” that taxpayers “will not be held accountable for the financial responsibility of building” the Howard Terminal development.
The A’s, for their part, are eyeing a move to Las Vegas should the deal falter, though officials there have shown little interest in kicking in money for a new stadium.
Google’s ‘transformational’ megaprojects in San Jose and Mountain View
Google will keep pushing ahead with three megaprojects that could add nearly 13,000 new homes to downtown San Jose and the tech giant’s hometown of Mountain View.
The company’s Downtown West project near San Jose’s Diridon Station is moving forward in earnest after the demolition of existing buildings at the site got underway this fall. The 80-acre planned neighborhood is set to have 4,000 housing units, a hotel, retail stores, parks and over 7 million square feet of office space. It’s expected to take over 10 years to build.
As demolition began, outgoing Mayor Sam Liccardo, in an interview with the Bay Area News Group, described the long-envisioned project as “transformational for our city for decades.”
In Mountain View, city leaders in November approved initial plans for Google’s Middlefield Park project to redevelop an office park into 1,900 new apartments, plus offices, shops and parks. It’s expected to be completed in 15 to 20 years.
Google’s other mixed-use development in Mountian View could be even larger, adding over 7,000 homes. Dubbed North Bayshore, it’s still in the early planning stages.
Downtown highrises in San Jose, Oakland ready to move forward — but challenges ahead
San Jose and Oakland could see progress on a slate of new residential highrises poised to reshape their downtown skylines — but economic headwinds threaten to slow construction.
In San Jose, officials recently approved five towers totaling over 1,400 units. They are:
- The 26-story Echo tower with 389 units along East Santa Clara Street
- The 30-story Orchard Residential tower with 540 units at 409 S. Second St.
- The 21-story Energy Hub tower with 194 residential units at Fountain Alley
- Two 21-story buildings with a total of 299 units along East San Salvador Street
In Oakland, two giant apartment towers now being built downtown should keep rising this year. One is a 39-story building at 1900 Broadway that will add 452 new apartments. The other is a 19-story project with 222 units at 1510 Webster St.
A developer also recently floated plans for what would become the tallest building in the city: the 46-story Town Tower with 596 units at 325 22nd St.
But Ken Rosen, a real estate expert with UC Berkeley, said rising material and labor costs, higher interest rates for construction loans and a looming recession could stall the projects in 2023.
“Housing is a function of economics, and the economics don’t work now for many market-rate projects,” he said.
Bay Area’s largest housing development to expand?
The Bay Area’s largest proposed housing development could get even bigger this year.
Concord First Partners, the group selected to redevelop the former Concord Naval Weapons Station into a sprawling new neighborhood, says to offset rising construction costs, it needs to increase the number of homes from 13,000 to 16,000.
Since redevelopment plans started almost two decades ago, the $6 billion project has faced many setbacks, including the previous developer backing out in 2020.
In May, the Concord City Council agreed to extend the negotiations with Concord First Partners through the end of January. At the time, Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister demanded the developer come up with more details about its intentions for the site.
“Pretty much at the end of January, there’d better be substantial progress in the information before our community — and we can’t wait,” she said at a council meeting.
On Jan. 7, the council is set to consider an agreement to add the homes.
Massive mixed-use project near Levi’s Stadium cleared for construction
In Santa Clara, an enormous $8 billion mixed-use development with nearly 1,700 homes across from Levi’s Stadium could start construction this year.
In November, city officials cleared the way for the first phase of the project, which was delayed because of the pandemic. Along with more housing, it would add office buildings, a hotel, shops and restaurants on over 200 acres at and near 5155 Stars and Stripes Drive.
But there could be obstacles to getting shovels in the ground. The state recently decided the developer, New York City-based Related Companies, must pay construction workers union-level wages because the project received city subsidies. Related is appealing that decision.
The developer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
