80 New Homes Coming to South San Jose?

Here’s an interesting one for anyone who lives in South San Jose or has any interest in Silicon Valley School Districts!  (I feel like that's a bad opening line, but I rewrote it 3 times and couldn't make it better lol)

Remember Glider Elementary School on Cozy Drive? The school closed back in 2018, and now the 9.5-acre property's destiny is finally becoming clearer.  The answer?  Housing.  Development. And the reaction from NIMBYs and YIMBYs. 

The property was purchased from Oak Grove School District for $26.6 million - years ago, with a proposal to turn the former school site into 80 new homes: 64 single-family homes and 16 townhomes. There would also be 11 homes designated for lower-income households and a 0.68-acre public park (think a park the size of a Walgreens, which isn't bad).  

The San Jose Planning Commission recently voted unanimously to recommend the project, and SJ City Council approved it on September 15th. 

There are definitely two sides to this one (amazingly, heeeyyyyoooooo!).

Supporters point out that the school has been closed for years, so the property is currently underused. The $26.6 million sale also gives the Oak Grove School District some much-needed funding while it deals with declining enrollment (happening everywhere in the South Bay). Plus, San Jose needs more housing, duh, and the project adds a public park.

On the other hand, some nearby residents are concerned about what 80 new homes could mean for the neighborhood. Traffic, parking, utilities, environmental impacts, and the overall character of the area are among the concerns. It will be denser housing than the neighborhood that surrounds the development. Lots are usually around 6,000 sq ft in that hood, while the new homes will be under 4,000 sq ft, most likely. 

Unrelated, but I attended a city/developer's public meeting in Santa Clara a month ago about a new development going up. The local residents were angry for a few reasons, but one feeling I got was that some people were just mad at the developers, not the plans or parks or density. I think some people are fed up with big developers making gobs of money while home prices stay out of reach for so many around here. But that's a side note. 

This is another example of the challenge we’re going to continue seeing around Silicon Valley: finding places for new housing without dramatically changing established neighborhoods.

Either way, it's happening. 

Read Also: How Much Do I Need to Make to Buy a House?