Pulte Homes Plans 140 Condos on Fremont Industrial Site

Pulte Homes is moving forward with more housing in Fremont.

The PulteGroup home building subsidiary is planning to build 140 condominiums, including 21 affordable units, on a former industrial and storage site at 45846 Warm Springs Road in Fremont’s Warm Springs district, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported.

The development would consist of 14 townhome-style buildings near the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station. The proposal advances a vision the City of Fremont adopted more than a decade ago through its Warm Springs/South Fremont Community Plan, which sought to transform the area surrounding the station into a mixed-use innovation district combining housing, employment and transit access.

The 45846 Warm Springs Boulevard site was designated for housing years ago, and city staff said the proposal complies with local planning requirements and qualifies for streamlined environmental review. The development is currently Pulte’s only project in the Warm Springs area, Fremont planning manager David Wage told the Business Journal.

Pulte’s proposal arrives as Sacramento continues pushing cities to embrace higher-density housing around transit hubs. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 79, legislation designed to encourage residential development near rail stations and other transit corridors, which goes into effect July 1. Cities across Silicon Valley like Sunnyvale have increasingly embraced similar transit-oriented growth strategies as they attempt to address chronic housing shortages.

Pulte has built residences in the traditionally industrial-heavy Fremont before. In 2011, the firm opened Central Park Terraces, a community of 145 single-family homes in the East Bay city.

The Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station has been targeted for housing even before SB 79’s passing. In 2022, the 330 Land Company filed plans to build 212 apartments and 64 townhomes at 44690 Lopes Road, replacing a single-family home at the site, and another 213 apartments on a vacant lot at 45021 Warm Springs Boulevard.

Under its housing element, the City of Fremont is required by the state to entitle 12,897 new residential units by 2031, with more than 7,000 of those being designated as affordable housing.

— Chris Malone Méndez