Cambrian Village July 2022 Update

This post is intended to provide you with an update as it relates to Cambrian Park Plaza/Cambrian Village.

View of the park looking at the senior assisted living facility on the left, the mixed-use apartment building with retail on the bottom floor, and the hotel on the right.

In case you missed it, on August 1, 2021, Kimco Realty Corp acquired San José’s Cambrian Park Plaza and has continued moving forward on the planned transformation turning the 18.13-acre sites into a mixed-use project. The proposed project consists of up to 428 housing units as well as commercial space for restaurants, a hotel, assisted living, and retail. Additionally, after advocacy from my office and extensive outreach to the community, the developer has agreed to include four acres of publicly available open space in the new project.

Kimco Realty Corp continued to fine-tune the project after the acquisition and made its final plan submittal to the City of San José earlier this year on January 20 which lays out the architectural plan sets turning Cambrian Park Plaza into Cambrian Village.

View of the Cambrian Village final sitemap submitted to the City by Kimco Realty Corp.

Increasing housing supply and production of affordable units are two of the biggest challenges facing the City in the regional housing crisis. My office pushed the Cambrian Village development team over the last year very hard to increase its commitment to on-site affordable units.

They took the challenge seriously and I am pleased to announce that the applicant recently pledged to double the number so that 10 percent of the on-site rental units will be deed-restricted affordable. This is in addition to an approximate $7.88 million contribution from the developer for affordable housing citywide. This affordable component will provide an opportunity for residents of varying income levels to be able to call Cambrian Village home.

Since this parcel is currently in unincorporated land under the jurisdiction of Santa Clara County, there are some additional steps and procedures that must be done prior to breaking ground. Some of these additional steps involve multiple meetings that will allow for public comment.

View of the plaza inside the mixed-use apartment complex.

The Director of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement is preparing a final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that will include responses to comments received during the review period. This report should be published in mid-July. The City’s responses to comments received during the review period will be available for review and will be sent to those who commented in writing on the EIR.

After the EIR is published, the City of San José’s Planning Commission will be providing a recommendation on the EIR and pre-zoning at their meeting on July 13, 2022.

Following the Planning Commission’s recommendation, City Council will vote on August 9, 2022, to certify the EIR, adopt and pre-zone the site to the Planning Department, and initiate annexation proceedings. After that, our office anticipates the annexation request will come again to the City Council on September 13, 2022, to officially order the annexation. The public will be able to provide comments at any City Council Meetings.

After the anticipated September 13th City Council meeting there will be a few more steps in the process before the Cambrian Village is fully approved including approval of the annexation as well as the development permit. As we move forward, and my office gets more information, I will be sure to share updates and specific dates with the community.

View of the townhomes, newly located carousel, senior assisted living facility, and mixed-use apartment building.

Until then, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any thoughts you have about this project or any other general topics related to District 9 or the City of San José.