Irvine Co. to Replace Santa Clara Office Park with Apartments

The Irvine Company has filed plans to build 1,782 apartments on a 26-acre property in Santa Clara’s Freedom Circle Focus Area, replacing a dozen office buildings at the site.

Fifteen percent of the new homes in the development, located at 2518 Mission College Boulevard, will be designated as affordable, according to a report in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Irvine Co.’s plan calls for five residential buildings featuring Mediterranean architectural styles. The development will include a tree-lined promenade that connects the residential community to a café and more than nine acres of parkland and open space, the report said.

“The city’s Freedom Circle Focus Area Plan provides a strong vision for Santa Clara Park and the surrounding area. We look forward to partnering with the city and community to deliver on this vision to create homes near jobs for local professionals,” said Carlene Matchniff, an Irvine Co. VP., in a statement.

While the development, which will replace on estimated 427K SF of office space, is considered to be transit-oriented, the plan includes plans for more than 1M SF of parking, according to a report in San Francisco YIMBY.

The new community also will be connected to San Tomas Aquino Creek trail, providing access to Santa Clara Square and Levi Stadium.

In June 2022, the City of Santa Clara adjusted its plan for the 108-acre Freedom Circle Focus Area to permit the area to morph into a high-density mixed-use community.

After Greystar received approval for a 1,075-unit apartment complex at 3905 Freedom Circle, the city approved a new general plan amendment permitting an additional 2,500 units in the Focus Area. The area is zoned to permit eight-story apartment buildings.

South Carolina-based Greystar sold the 13-acre Freedom Circle property to NYC-based Cerberus Capital Management in October for $50M.

Greystar bought the property in 2017 from Intel for $35M, with initial plans to build an office building and three apartment buildings on the site. Intel’s headquarters is located on the other side of San Tomas Aquino Creek.

Informix, which had planned to build a 1M SF office campus on the site in the 1990s, sold the property to Intel.