Townhomes Touted as Path to Home Ownership in Los Gatos

SummerHill Homes got the nod to replace a historic lodge in Los Gatos with 155 townhomes.

The San Ramon-based developer was approved by the Los Gatos Town Council to build the three-story development at 50 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, the San Jose Spotlight reported.

The 128-room Los Gatos Lodge, which opened 1958, will be demolished.

Plans for the project, filed in 2023, call for 155 townhomes across 8.8 acres, of which 26 would be set aside as affordable. Parking would accommodate 330 cars.

In January, a typical home in the town south of San Jose sold for $2.5 million, up 39.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Redfin. Rob Moore, vice mayor for Los Gatos, said the new townhomes would allow people like him a shot at owning a home.

“I’m one of the one-third of renters that lives in the town of Los Gatos who, as it currently stands, does not have a pathway to home ownership in this town,” he told the council. “When I see this sort of development where these units are likely to go for less than a single-family home goes for in Los Gatos, I see a place where I could see myself potentially living one day.”

The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the project’s approval last month. SummerHill applied under SB 330, which fast-tracks approvals for cities that are out of compliance with state-mandated housing plans.

The developer could have invoked the builder’s remedy, a legal loophole in state housing law that allows developers to bypass local zoning rules in cities that haven’t certified their housing element plans, providing they include enough affordable housing, according to the Spotlight.

But the unit of Calabasas-based Marcus & Millichap didn’t in an effort to work with the town.

The town must plan to build 1,993 homes by 2031, 847 of which must be affordable to low-income residents.

The developer expects to break ground this year, with model homes expected to be built by summer 2027.

John Hickey, vice president of development at SummerHill, said project amenities will help future residents, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. SummerHill Homes has also built the homes at Bellaterra @ North 40, in Los Gatos.

SummerHil, founded in 1976, has developed more than 7,000 homes in the Bay Area and Southern California, according to its LinkedIn page.

Last month, the firm partnered with the Houston-based Hanover Company, which paid $78.3 million for a century-old fruit stand and orchard at 2620 Seely Avenue in San Jose, with plans to build more than 1,600 homes.

— Dana Bartholomew