Prominent housing developer SummerHill Homes is about to build much needed multifamily housing in North San Jose with financing lined up.
The development at 210 Baypointe Parkway, approved in October 2024, adds 292 apartments and 42 townhomes to the Baypointe neighborhood. A single-story commercial building sits on the 4.3 acre lot, which county documents show the developer purchased from JT Associates for $13.5 million and received a $43.2 million construction loan from Comerica Bank, as first reported by the Mercury News.
Kevin Ebrahimi, senior vice president of entitlements and planning for SummerHill Homes, said they’re hoping to finish the initial drawings by the end of July, after which demolition of the commercial building will begin.
“SummerHill identified the site as a strong candidate for redevelopment based on its location, scale and compatibility with the city’s long-term vision for the area,” Ebrahimi told San José Spotlight.
District 4 Councilmember David Cohen, who represents the neighborhood, said he’s glad to see the project move forward, and that its location next to the Baypointe VTA light rail station makes it a prime spot for housing.
“By building near transit, we’re addressing multiple challenges at once — reducing traffic congestion, increasing housing supply and cutting carbon emissions,” Cohen told San José Spotlight. “This is exactly the kind of smart, sustainable growth we envision for North San Jose.”
San Jose officials have wanted to bulk up housing in this neighborhood for years, but development has been halted by litigation from Santa Clara County, Milpitas and Santa Clara. All parties reached a settlement in 2022, which Cohen said was crucial for the city to keep up with housing demands.
The state has mandated San Jose add 62,200 additional homes between 2023-31 to meet its allocated housing goals. Of that, 15,000 are slated to be reserved as affordable to people earning less than half of the area median income. The area median income in Santa Clara County for a family of four is $195,200.
Officials said in 2022 no new housing had been added to the neighborhood for a decade. Now, Cohen said the city plans to add more than 24,000 new homes.
“This is one of the projects we envisioned when we negotiated a settlement with the county to allow housing development to begin again in North San Jose,” Cohen said.
While the project will bring more than 300 homes, only 15 apartments will be affordable, or priced below 50% of the area median income. To compensate for not meeting the 15% affordable housing benchmark, SummerHill Homes is paying the city about $3.7 million in in-lieu fees.
The project doesn’t have retail space, but there will be a public walkway between the apartment building and the townhome complex, giving residents and other neighbors easier access to the Baypointe VTA light rail station. Ebrahimi said the development will add a protected bike lane along Baypointe Parkway.
“North San Jose has a well-documented shortage of for-sale housing, particularly near transit,” Ebrahimi told San José Spotlight. “This site is ideally located adjacent to light rail, making it well suited for a high-quality, transit-oriented residential community.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
