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Faculty and Staff Housing

 

Housing in Silicon Valley is in crisis. Projections show that San Jose will not meet its housing goals until between 2080 and 2086.  That is right around the time Santa Clara University’s class of 2100 will be born.

Finding affordable, suitable housing is vital for our faculty and staff today. That is why Santa Clara University has proposed building an innovative, transformative development on University-owned land that would include up to 290 affordably priced rental units for faculty, staff, and their families. Uniquely, this mixed-use development would also include a business incubator, furthering our and the City of San Jose’s commitment to supporting the development of new companies and good-paying jobs in this  area.

What is the Project?  The University proposes building 290 apartment-homes on 1200 Campbell Avenue located immediately adjacent to campus and next to University Villas. The location is technically inside of the City of San Jose.

However, this proposal is already at risk. Due to the current City General Land Use Policy which would encourage storage over housing,  our application is being considered for early denial.

We need your help!  Please join us in sharing with the Planning Commission and the San Jose City Council how vital this development is to our ability to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff. Your voice is critical to our ability to convince the Planning Council and City Council that this project is needed and in-line with the City’s goals.

This project will:

* help SCU recruit and retain our accomplished educators and dedicated staff.

* increase affordable, high-density housing near transit lines.

* reduce traffic congestion as residents will be walking or biking to their jobs on the University campus.

* aid in job growth through the incubator space for startups.

For those that participated in the recent housing survey, thank you very much for your time. We will have the results shortly and would like to share this with the community in a town hall format.  We are hosting the event at the California Mission room on May 6th. We will have survey results, information on upcoming focus group sessions as well as information on the project approval process.  There will be additional information on how you can get involved.

 

Event :    Santa Clara University Faculty-Staff Housing Survey Results

Date:      Monday, May 6

Location: Benson California Mission Room

Time:      12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

RSVP:      Not Necessary

To better understand the community's needs, we are hoping that you can join us for a focus group. We will have project team members, including our architect on hand to answer questions and pose questions about what housing would best suite the University community.  There are four opportunities available, on May 8, 9, 15 and 16. All four are being held at 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. You only need to attend one session out of the four. This special invitation window to participate will be opened through April 30th at 5:00 p.m. After April 30th, we will need to open up the limited number of seats to the entire University.

 

Event :       Housing Focus Groups

Dates :       May 8, 9, 15 and 16

Location :    May 8 (Bannan Alumni House)

                  May 9 (Bannan Alumni House)

                  May 15 (Benson California Mission Room)

                  May 16 (TBD)

Time:       All focus groups will be between 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.

Food:       Very light lunch provided (pizza and drinks)

RSVP:       RSVP Required; RSVP Before May 6th at 12:00 noon to VPFA@scu.edu 

Limited:   Seats limited to ensure a robust conversation and space limitations

Attendance:  You only need to attend one Focus Group

Affordable and "Missing Middle" Housing is in desperately short supply within a reasonable distance from our campus, forcing our community to travel further or consider leaving SCU all together.  This situation is expected to get worse as our current work-force moves towards retirement and new faculty and staff are recruited to an area without stable housing.

This project uniquely meets the City of San Jose’s stated criteria for housing, helps keep jobs and dollars in San Jose, and supports the creation of new jobs and companies in San Jose. Consider the following: 

  • This project is a model of the type of housing San Jose seeks to build: high-density, near a transit hub, with a significant percentage of residents expected to walk to work. The site will also be a stone’s throw from the new BART extension stop, for which taxpayers of Santa Clara County paid  $4.3 billion. Building high density, sustainable housing adjacent to the stop is the only sensible use of this real estate.
  • This project creates jobs and companies in San Jose. By creating the new Bronco Technology Center business accelerator, which will be housed on the ground floor, SCU can host an estimated 120 companies at a time. These companies can go on to create jobs and strong tax revenue for San Jose. See this Forbes article about similar successful university incubators at Stanford, University of California Berkeley and others.  Currently, the site usage does not create any new jobs. However, the proposed development is designed to be a net job creator.
  • The site is already surrounded by residential housing--so using it for “industrial” makes little sense.  We are very interested in our neighbors’ perspectives and we are committed to working closely with the Newhall Neighborhood Association to make this a better community for all.
  • The University is contributing the value of the land to keep future rental costs low for our residents.
  • Two Jesuit sister schools based in San Jose,  Bellarmine College Preparatory and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, are supporting this project as a small number of units will be earmarked for their faculty and staff as well.

Because this project requires City approval to convert its current land use from light industrial to mixed-use zoning, SCU needs the support of San Jose’s 11 City Council members.  Here’s how you can help:

  • Send letters of support to City Council members by May 1st and copy dcajigas@scu.edu. Let them know how this project will help you or your colleagues.  Click here to view how to contact the Council.
  • By May 1, sign and send a ‘support card’ to SCU Facilities through campus mail that SCU officials can deliver to City Council members to convey the scope of faculty and staff support. To access a template, click here.
  • Participate in upcoming focus groups. Information coming soon.