Santa Clara’s Agrihood project is coming together. In late January, developers started selling the townhomes in the complex on Winchester Boulevard near Westfield Valley Fair mall. In May, it will be the senior building opening up to residents.
“Despite the recent atmospheric rivers, we actually had a pretty steady clip on construction prior to those rain events,” said Vince Cantore, vice president of development for the Core Companies. “Things are actually working out pretty well. Obviously, we’ll still have to go through the energization process with PG&E, which always takes a little bit longer than we’d all like, but right now, as far as schedule, it’s looking like May of 2023, for the senior building.”
The senior housing includes 361 units, with 181 of those considered affordable housing. Residents must meet certain requirements to qualify, including an age requirement of 55 years or older. Some of the units will be set aside for veterans. Priority will also be given to people who currently live or work in Santa Clara.
The Santa Clara units are already in high demand. More than 350 people have expressed interest. Cantore says preleasing will start this month, with the goal of having people move in by the middle of this year.
“The lease up effort is going to be going on concurrently with construction,” said Cantore. “Hopefully, by the time construction is approved and we have temporary certificate of occupancy, we can start welcoming our first residents to the community.”
Cantore says crews will also complete the agriculture space along Winchester Boulevard in May. That includes the farm, recreational space, a café and a shed.
“The shed space, that’s going to have walk-in refrigerators, vegetable washing station, spaces for classes to take place,” said Cantore. “Then the community room, which is kind of on the other side of the open space next to the café, that’ll be open for residents of the project, as well as members of the general public that want to conduct business, have a party, do whatever they need to do in a community room.”
The farm will be professionally managed by a company called FarmSpace, which will provide food for residents and the general public through a farmer’s market type atmosphere. Meanwhile, Cantore says the company is finalizing a lease for the café space.
The final aspect of the project is market-rate apartments across from the townhomes and senior housing. Unfortunately, there is no date of completion for those units.
“It’s a difficult economy to underwrite market rate deals. And so, it’s probably just going to take longer,” said Cantore.
For more details on the Agrihood project including preleasing information for the senior housing, visit www.agrihood-sc.com.
