Grosvenor Moves to Add 450 Homes to Los Gatos Development

Grosvenor Property Americas wants to add more than 450 homes to its controversial North 40 development in Los Gatos.

The U.S. unit of London-based Grosvenor, owned for 346 years by the Duke of Westminster, has filed plans to build 451 homes at the corner of Highways 17 and 85, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Plans for Phase II of the North 40 project call for 119 townhomes and 250 apartments, plus 14,900 square feet for shops and restaurants, 4,300 square feet for community use and a 2-acre public park.

Some 91 units would be set aside as affordable for households earning less than 60 percent of area median income, including 67 units built by Eden Housing on 1.5 acres of donated land.

If approved, both phases of the North 40 development — bounded by highways 17 and 85, Los Gatos Boulevard and Lark Avenue — would include more than 800 homes, of which 139 would be affordable.

In May, Grosvenor Property had filed a preliminary application under Senate Bill 330, a state housing law that prevents cities from changing zoning laws to block high-density apartment buildings.

Los Gatos must find room for 1,993 homes in the next eight years to meet its state-mandated housing goal. Of those, 310 units must be affordable for low-income households.

Phase I of the North 40, at the northwest corner of Los Gatos Boulevard and Lark Avenue, is under construction.

It includes 253 market-rate units at a townhome complex called Bellaterra and 49 affordable units for seniors at a complex dubbed Walnut Grove, plus a market hall with restaurants and shops. Half of the homes at Bellaterra have already been purchased, according to the developer, with the project expected to be finished next summer.

Prices range from $900,000 to $2.3 million, for the 23 different styles of units, including townhouses, flats, detached units, bungalows and houses.

The North 40, 30 years in the making, was fought by residents who don’t want high-density housing.

Grosvenor’s initial plans were rejected by the Town Council, which said the housing density was too high and didn’t include enough affordable units. The developers sued the town and won, pushing the development forward.

In May last year, the British investor bought a commercial building on a nearly 1-acre lot approved for redevelopment into 225 apartments at 2600 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. The following July, it won approval to build a 163-unit apartment building at 1951 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.

— Dana Bartholomew