By B. Sakura Cannestra. San José Spotlight.
A Milpitas school district's plan to help its employees live where they work is paying off.
The Milpitas City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved plans to demolish a vacant one-story industrial building on 6.69 acres of land at 1355 California Circle and replace it with 206 townhomes and apartments. The 75 apartments will be affordable, with most serving Milpitas Unified School District employees. The project is being designed and developed by Pulte Group.
Council members praised the project to increase the city's affordable housing stock: Milpitas needs to add 6,700 homes by 2031 to meet state requirements.
“This project is long overdue, it’s been a long time coming,” Mayor Carmen Monta said at the meeting. “I know Pulte, they build very high quality homes and that’s what we want in Milpitas.”
As part of approving the project, the City Council waived certain requirements from the city's General Plan. The plan called for 100 percent affordable housing and the creation of a zoning plan specific to the California Circle neighborhood.