Public Funds Add Up to $139M for San Jose Apartments

The Core Companies and Republic Urban Properties have secured $139 million in public financing to build 135 affordable apartments in Downtown San Jose.

UrbanCo Tamien, a joint venture by the San Jose-based developers, received the funds to build the transit-oriented complex at 1197 Lick Avenue, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The 135 affordable apartments are the first phase of a 569-unit complex planned next to Tamien Station. A second phase would build the remainder, to be rented out at market rates.

The developers expect to break ground this month and complete the complex by 2025. The cost of each affordable apartment will be more than $1 million.

Project funding includes a $66 million bond allocation from a state panel, $31 million in grants from the state housing agency, up to $25 million from Santa Clara County Measure A funds and $17 million from the City of San Jose, according to the Mercury News.

Citibank will serve as the primary construction lender.

Plans call for the phased development on a 6.7-acre parking lot owned by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority via a ground lease next to a rail station for Caltrain, light rail and buses.

The project, designed by Long Beach-based Studio T Square, would include three apartment buildings in white, beige and yellow, topped by low-pitch tile roofs, according to renderings.

The first phase, to be built on 1.6 acres, would include the 135-unit affordable apartment complex with a 3,000-square-foot childcare center on the ground floor. Earlier plans included a market-rate building in the first phase.

The affordable apartments will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units set aside for tenants who earn between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income. An estimated 67 of these units would be reserved for the rapid rehousing of residents.

Tamien Station is on the southside of Downtown, a few rail stops from the main transit hub at Diridon Station, where Google plans a major transit development.

Elsewhere, The Core Companies aims to build a 20-story housing tower in Downtown San Jose, with 300 affordable apartments at 470 South Market Street.

The company also has moved ahead with Agrihood, an affordable development of 361 homes in Santa Clara, with a 1.5-acre urban farm.

Republic Urban Properties, a unit of Connecticut-based Republic Family of Companies, plans to build 328 apartments, including 89 affordable units, at 605 Blossom Hill Road in South San Jose.