Santa Clara County Housing Digest

Seeking to ensure that recently approved housing projects actually get built, Palo Alto is preparing to give developers more time to secure financing and finalize building plans before their planning permits expire.

Santa Clara County is the second-most expensive county in the nation to buy a home, yet demand is still strong.

Sunnyvale leaders are considering opening the door for a developer to build eight, two-story homes where one currently stands.

As part of a push for more housing, Palo Alto relaxed height, density and parking rules in several sections on the city. One casualty of the change? The city's 50-foot height limit, which has long been seen as sacrosanct.

The Milpitas City Council unanimously approved plans to demolish a vacant, one-story industrial building on 6.69 acres of land at 1355 California Circle and replace it with 206 townhomes and apartments.

Palo Alto's contentious effort to update its historic registry kicked off when the Historical Resources Board considered more than 30 buildings for listings. But faced with opposition, it delayed reviews for about 30 others.

San Jose leaders pushed forward plans for five new homes in the city’s upscale Willow Glen neighborhood.

“All that money that’s tied up in a vacant house is money that’s lost opportunity for us to do good in the community,” says PACE’s executive director.

In its latest attempt get the state’s blessing for its housing plans, the City Council is preparing to approve a series of zoning changes that aim at turning commercial sites in south Palo Alto into magnets for new housing.

Redfin data shows that tens of thousands of more people look to leave California than buy homes in the Golden State. There’s an exception, however: the Sacramento region, which remains one of the hottest homebuying markets in the country.

The Palo Alto Historic Resources Board is trying to preserve houses that represent important architectural styles, but the implications for homeowners aren’t clear.

A new study by Joint Venture Silicon Valley found the region’s median home sale price reached a peak of $1.53 million in 2022, bolstered by three top competitive markets—Fremont, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.

As Palo Alto prepares to add dozens of homes to the local historical registry, it is facing concerns from homeowners who fear the move will lower their property values and make future renovation a hassle.

Milpitas needs to find ways to build more affordable housing and preserve what it already has, according to housing advocates and policymakers who discussed the city's affordable housing stock at a Thursday panel, sponsored by Authority and hosted by San José Spotlight.

San Jose State University envisions partnering with public school districts across Santa Clara County to combat the housing crisis and the soaring cost of living dilemma that has driven teachers and students out of the Bay Area.

Despite concerns about financial feasibility, the City Council unanimously approved a five-story condominium project that could put middle-income households on the path to home ownership in Mountain View.

Los Altos Hills City Council members voted unanimously to remove 12871 Atherton Ct. from the town’s “inventory of historic sites and structures,” after current owner Anthony Scott told the council he could not sell the 1910-era house otherwise.

Sunnyvale plans to add more housing near its transit hubs with a unique project that incorporates multiple bedrooms and bathrooms per apartment.

New data from the Santa Clara County assessor's office shows a significant number of properties declining in value from 2,595 last year to 19,325 this year.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

San Jose leaders have reluctantly agreed to a plan to convert hundreds of hotel rooms into student housing amid concerns it will harm tourism.

After decades of building and buying housing in surrounding cities, Stanford University will now look to own campus for future residential growth under a plan approved by Santa Clara County supervisors.

The committee settled on a plan to phase out a controversial billing system that relies on shared or master meters to charge tenants.

The developer wants to turn the 0.88-acre lot The property, located at 3378-86 El Camino Real, into 22 townhouse units that will then be sold. City staff says the development is consistent with the general plan.

Palo Alto's plans to create a new housing hub on a stretch of El Camino Real received rave reviews this week from area developers, though some planning commissioners raised concerns about community impacts.

With a focus on preventing housing insecurity, Mountain View is taking steps to create a local ordinance that will protect tenants from losing rent-stabilized units to redevelopment projects.

As Santa Clara County prepares to approve new policies for Stanford University's growth, Palo Alto and the university are at loggerheads over a key question: Can the university's campus accommodate most of its future housing needs?

The Los Altos City Council was scheduled to pass the second reading and adopt a housing element implementation ordinance—a proposal that has prompted residents near Rancho Shopping Center to fret about the fate of supermarkets, coffee shops and other forms of retail.

After a monthslong debate between local leaders, San Jose is set to receive 200 temporary housing units for homeless residents in North San Jose—with help from the local transit agency and the state.

The CPUC is considering a rule that would gut the payments that solar panels on apartment buildings receive, and many housing groups are blazing mad about it.

Eager to create more housing opportunities, Palo Alto is preparing to welcome taller and denser residential projects to an area that is seeing significant developer interest: a stretch of El Camino Real just south of Page Mill Road.

Whether a result of politics or caution, San Jose’s hopes of opening an interim housing site at a public transit lot in the northern part of the city may not happen exactly how leaders want.