Cupertino Officials Approve Dividend Homes’ Multifamily Plan

The Cupertino City Council gave the go-ahead to a Bay Area developer for a multifamily development near the heart of the Silicon Valley city.

City officials approved plans from Morgan Hill-based developer Dividend Homes for 32 townhome-style apartments at 20045 Stevens Creek Boulevard, San Francisco YIMBY reported.

Dividend Homes plans to build six structures on the site’s 1.8-acre lot. Of the 32 units the developer will produce, six will be set aside as affordable housing for moderate-income households. In Santa Clara County, that generally works out to $164,000 for one person or $234,250 for a household of four. Apartments will range in size from 1,550 to 2,150 square feet.

The project is utilizing Senate Bill 330 to streamline the application process. In exchange for providing some affordable units, the developer will be permitted to build larger than what zoning laws typically allow as part of the state’s density bonus system.

Dividend Homes’ townhome development sits near the former Vallco Town Center mall, which is poised for redevelopment into a mixed-use neighborhood called The Rise, according to San Francisco YIMBY. The estimated cost for the project and timeline for construction have not yet been disclosed.

The City of Cupertino found itself in hot water last summer with California’s top housing agency accusing the city of violating state housing law. In August, the Department of Housing and Community Development derided the city’s handling of an ongoing lawsuit by pro-housing groups regarding two proposed projects that the city claimed had incomplete and expired applications.

Developers for 20 condos on Scofield Drive and 33 homes near Linda Vista Park filed proposals in February 2024 looking to seize a builder’s remedy opportunity after the city missed the deadline to certify its housing element. The city cited the Permit Streamlining Act and argued that developers only have one 90-day window to respond to the city’s questions about its application, while the Department of Housing and Community Development said “the 90-day deadline resets after each incompleteness determination made by the city,” confirming that “a project with multiple incompleteness determination letters and responses may have multiple 90-day periods,” according to the Mercury News.

The move follows a lawsuit from the Town of Los Gatos asking for clarification on the 90-day window provision. In that suit, the town was seeking “not to stop housing construction in Los Gatos, but rather to know how to comply with the law,” per the Mercury News.

As part of its housing element, the City of Cupertino must plan for 4,588 new housing units by 2031.

— Chris Malone Méndez