City Continues to Pursue Hilltown Property

— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 22 May 2010 — Comments Off

In closed session prior to Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the City Council — acting as the Redevelopment Agency — will return to the negotiating table to purchase the Hilltown property. The Hilltown property is currently assessed at $14.2m. The owner of the property — Santa Clara Valley Housing Group (SCVHG) — has ties to the developers of Victoria by the Bay, Catellus, who has had a falling out of sorts with the City.

With development along the waterfront stagnated as a direct result of the economy, and the State pillaging the redevelopment agency coffers, questions do persist as to why the City would pursue this purchase and whether or not the City can even afford it (unless the developer was offering a unique low-cost opportunity). Some have also argued that the Hilltown property is the city’s last chance to preserve a significant amount of open space on the west side of I-80.

Hilltown was originally planned to be a mixed-use development, and it has been largely marketed as such, but the latest plans are anything but. There is zero planned commercial, and the affordable housing element may be constructed as a part of Sycamore Downtown. The success of New Urbanism has been based on a blend of mixed uses with mixed incomes in order to develop sustainable, livable communities. The most recent plan for Hilltown is not New Urbanism.