AvalonBay Communities Bumps Up Mountain View Housing Plans

AvalonBay Communities is looking to jump on the need for housing in Silicon Valley by nearly doubling the size of one of its residential projects.

The Virginia-based firm will redevelop Eaves Mountain View, its largest complex in the Silicon Valley city, by 323 units, bringing total residences at the property from 402 to 725, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The Mountain View City Council unanimously approved AvalonBay’s proposal on Tuesday.

AvalonBay is the latest developer to restart long-proposed projects in the Bay Area that have stalled amid rising construction costs, according to the Business Times. State housing laws meant to meet the housing crisis head-on are helping to speed up approvals and bring dormant projects back to life. AvalonBay’s expansion at Eaves Mountain View utilizes state density bonus laws to create the additional housing.

Under AvalonBay’s plan, the 14.5-acre site at 555 West Middlefield Road will be rebuilt into a larger, more urban complex, according to the Business Times. AvalonBay purchased the property in 2013 and submitted its first proposal for redevelopment a few years later.

More tech and artificial intelligence companies are setting up shop in Silicon Valley, bringing droves of workers with them. At the same time, few apartment developments are coming online as demand surges, causing a subsequent increase in rents. Mountain View, along with Palo Alto and Los Altos, lead Silicon Valley in rent growth at roughly 8 percent year-over-year, according to CBRE data cited by the Business Times.

OpenAI’s future Silicon Valley campus is emerging about a mile away in Mountain View, with the ChatGPT creator making its Silicon Valley debut by leasing a five-building, 450,000-square-foot office campus at 350-380 Ellis Street earlier this month.

Developers are flocking to the area to meet that looming jump in demand. At 490 East Middlefield Road, a joint venture between Diamond Construction, Huettig & Schromm and Stackhouse De la Peña Trachtenberg Architects is redeveloping an eight-story office building into 460 residential units above ground-floor retail space, the Business Times reported.

Nearby at 355 East Middlefield Road, Essex Property Trust is planning to replace 85,000 square feet of aging office and research buildings with 576 housing units. A few blocks away at 675 East Middlefield Road, Prometheus Real Estate Group is looking to redevelop two aging office buildings with 836 apartments, a new office building and public open space.

— Chris Malone Méndez