Cupertino for All

Now: The Rise Cupertino

The Rise is the new and final iteration of Vallco project proposals. Located across the I-280 freeway from Apple Park, ‘The Rise’ will offer a more public mixed-use site with open space, shops, offices, and over two thousand homes. The futuristic proposal features design by the internationally acclaimed Rafael Viñoly Architects firm. This will be the largest housing project in Cupertino history, though it serves several different functions in addition to housing.

The Rise was one of the first projects approved using Senate Bill 35 (SB 35), a state law used to streamline the housing review process. At full buildout, it would reshape the central Cupertino property with over seven million square feet of gross floor area. The mixed-use plans include approximately 2,400 residential units (1200 affordable units), 1.973 million square feet of commercial space for offices or laboratories, 429,000 square feet for retail or dining entertainment, and 40 acres of open space. A portion of that open space will be from the 29-acre green roof, surpassing Chicago’s Millennium Park to be the largest green roof in the world.

The parking capacity for cars and bicycles has not been specified. However, the project references the 15-minute city concept, imagined as an urban planning philosophy that forgoes the need for vehicles for daily activities.

The Facts

• This Vallco project (now called The Rise) was approved by the City of Cupertino under SB-35, which requires cities to approve certain projects, if (1) the city has failed to meet certain housing production numbers and (2) the project meets a high threshold of affordability requirements—in this case 50% affordable units.

• 50% of the housing units dedicated to households with incomes below 80% of the area median income, as required by SB35

• No construction has begun as of August 2022; the previous City Council noted that the land required environmental remediation, while the developer claimed the city was stalling the permitting process.

  FOR MORE INFO ON THIS PROJECT, AND THE HISTORY, SEE BELOW

Before Modern Times

“Vallco” comes from the names of some of the original land-owners: the Varian Associates, Lester, Leonard, Craft and Orlando families.

• Vallco opened in 1976, featuring an enclosed mall design popular in 1970s and 1980s

• Based on department store “anchors”: Bullocks, JC Penney, and Sears

• Owned by the Westfield Corporation from 1990 -1995, who also bought Valley Fair in 1999

• Resold to Heitman/Vallco LLC, then Vallco LLC, then Cupertino Square LLC (2005), and then Son Son Co (2009)

Vallco and Housing

In 2006, Apple announced a new 50-acre campus on a HP industrial site, with no housing for an estimated 3500 employees

• Council approved two projects to build 134 condominiums on a Vallco parking lot and 380-unit residential development at Budd & McClellan

• Cupertino Residents for Sensible Zoning protest group led referendums to overturn council approvals on both projects

• Slogan used was “Just say NO to Condo-tino”

Recession & Post-Recession Site Purchase

• 2008 – 2009 Great Recession – loss of jobs, home foreclosures, bankruptcies

• 2014 – Inflection point.  Jobs recovered, but not housing.  School enrollments started to decline, due to lack of affordable housing for families

• 2014 – Council enacted General Plan Amendment and identified the Vallco Shopping District Special Area as a site to be developed according to the terms of a future specific plan

• 2014 – Sand Hill Properties announced plan to redevelop entire Vallco site 

plans, Proposals, & Ballot measures

Following Sand Hill’s acquisition, various plans for the site took shape.

2014 – Attempt to Redevelop, Using a general plan amendment

An amendment to Cupertino’s General Plan proposed the following components for the Vallco site:

• Housing: A residential component with 389 apartments for multi-generational living with a minimum of 80 senior apartments 

• Retail Commercial: The Town Center/Community Park would include approximately 640,000 square feet of commercial area, including family-friendly entertainment, retail, sports and recreation uses

• Office Commercial: Approximately two million square feet of office space serving incubator, startups, and emerging or established Silicon Valley companies

• Community Space: 

  • The Town Center/Community Park would have supported public, residential, hotel, and office amenity areas. 

  • At least 50,000 square feet dedicated to public/civic uses, including charitable space for local non-profit organizations, a high school Innovation Center, an adult education center, and a Mobility Hub 

  • The Town Center would include two Town Squares:

    • Town Square West (approximately 2 acres) on the west side of Wolfe Road

    • Town Square East (approximately 1 acre) on the east side of Wolfe Road.

    Town Squares West would include programmable outdoor environments which would be used for community events and company functions. Town Square East was envisioned as the “quiet complement” to Town Square West, which was slated to serve as an actual “town center”. 

• Open Space: a publicly accessible approximately 30-acre landscaped Community Park and Nature Area above the buildings

2016 – The Hills at Vallco (2016)

In 2016, Sand Hill proposed a redevlopment plan called “The Hills at Vallco”, with the following components:

• Housing: 800 homes, comprised of 680 Market Rate, 80 Below Market Rate, 40 Senior Age-restricted Units

• Retail Commercial: 625,000 sq. ft. retail 

• Office Commercial: 2 million sq. ft of office space

• Community Space: 

  • Two Town Center Square and Plazas

  • 300-seat amphitheater, 1000-person banquet facility

  • Up to 100,000 s.f. of civic space for non-profits and civic organizations, a banquet hall, and a community center

• Open Space: 30-acre integrated green roof with 3.8 miles of jogging and walking trails

• Community Benefits

  • More than $50 million in benefits to Cupertino schools, including a state-of-the art Innovation Center for FUHSD students and new annual tax revenues of $3 million to the FUHSD and $1.2 million to the Foothill-De Anza Community College District

  • A progressive Transportation Demand Management plan, substantial contributions to a Free community shuttle

  • On-site transit center

  • 30 million toward 1-280 improvements plus more in local roadway improvements

  • Sustainability strategies including irrigation by recycled water and rainwater collection and reuse

  • Substantial economic and fiscal benefits including one-time tax revenues of more than $14 million and new recurring tax revenues of over $5 million to the City of Cupertino, and approx. $20 million in new annual property tax revenues

2016 – Ballot Measures C & D

• Measure C: Better Cupertino Political Action Committee initiated Measure C to rescind the 2014 General Plan Amendment and sought to limit the entire Vallco to 1.2 million square feet of retail only – no housing, no office, no hotel

• Measure D: Sand Hill Property launched Measure D to authorize the “Vallco Town Center Specific Plan” (aka “The Hills at Vallco”) as a response to Measure C – in hopes of keeping the project alive

Voter’s Pamphlet information provided at the time:

• Arguments in favor of Measure C

• Arguments against Measure C

• Arguments in favor of Measure D

• Arguments against Measure D

Outcome - A Divided Community

Both measures were defeated at the ballot box in Nov. 2016, indicating a lack of decisiveness in what voters wanted for the future of Vallco. Still, this was a tremendous setback in terms of reaching a resolution. 

•       Measure C:  NO 61%,  YES 39%

•       Measure D:  NO 55%,  YES 45%

2017 – 2018: Plans, Projects, & lawsuits

Vallco Tier 2/Specific Plan

A new Specific Plan process was initiated by City Council. Project Kick-off in October 2017 was followed by a series of community engagement and workshops, resulting in the “Vallco Town Center Specific Plan Tier 2 Project”, adopted in September 2018.

• Council spent 3 million dollars with the Opticos design team process (3 million dollars reimbursed by Sand Hill)

• Heights: 3-10 stories on west side of Wolfe Road, 6-13 stories on the east side of Wolfe Road

• Housing: 2,923 units 

  •  Affordable Housing - 20% of the residential units would be provided as affordable housing at the following percentages: 15% Low-Income and 5% Moderate-Income housing

• Office space: 1.75 million sq. ft.

• Retail/Commercial: 400,000 sq. ft

• Hotel rooms: 191

• Community Benefits totaled over 95 million:

  • CUSD:  $14.25 million  in addition to development fees

  • FUHSD: either 1) build and lease to FUHSD 25,000 sq. ft. “warm shell” space for Adult School or 2) a $9.5 million in lieu payment

  • Municipal:

    • City Hall: either 1) demolish the existing City Hall building and build a 40,000 sq. ft. “warm shell” new City Hall including underground parking or 2) a $30 million in lieu payment

    • $11 million to the City to fund work with the Wolfe Road/I-280 and Junipero Trail Serra Bike/Pedestrian Trail. Decreased to $5.5 million if there was a challenge to the Project.

    • $1 million for a 1-year pilot shuttle program, and if successful $750,000 thereafter for 9 years. Decreased if there was a challenge to the Project.

    • Implement a TDM Program (Transportation Demand Management)

    • A mobility/bike hub within the project

    • A Performing Arts Center: provided the City an option to 1) build and lease to the City a 60,000 sf. “warm shell” space suitable for a performing arts center, or 2) receive a $22.8 million in lieu payment

SB 35 Project (2018)

In the face of voter referendums in 2018, Sand Hill put forth a project using SB-35 guidelines in order to avoid delays caused a potential referendum and further obstruction.

Initial Application Details:

Height: 

• Up to 22 stories

• Housing: 

  • 2,402 units of housing – 50% of the housing units dedicated to households with incomes below 80% of the area median income, as required by SB35

• Office space: 

  • 1.8 million sq. ft.

• Retain/Commercial: 

  • 400,000 sq. ft.

• No community benefits – no money for School Districts, no traffic mitigation, etc.

• Cupertino City is subject to SB35 because it did not issue sufficient building permits to meet its share of the regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) for the most recent reporting period

• Aspects of this project

  • Approval under state law stands

  • Various permits required

  • Demolition in phases

  • Infrastructure preparation will take 1-2 years

  • Buildout in 5-10 years

  • Residents and Council do not have voice in decisions

What happened?

• The Specific Plan was approved in September 2018 by City Council, with two options (one being the negotiated plan with benefits, the other being a version of the SB-35 proposal)

• Better Cupertino Political Action Committee successfully gathered signatures for an initiative to put the “Vallco Town Center Specific Plan Tier 2 Project” on the ballot for an election

• In May 2019, a newly elected City Council repealed the “Vallco Town Center Specific Plan Tier 2 Project” instead of putting the initiative on the ballot for an election to let the voters decide. That action meant the previously-approved 2018 version of the Specific Plan would not move forward, removing the ballot election for the 2018 plan.

• After, that City Council adopted an amendment to Cupertino’s General Plan to:

  • Remove office as a permitted use for the Vallco Shopping District Area

  • Continue to accommodate the 389-unit Regional Housing Needs Allocation for the site by permitting 459 residential units by-right on 13.1 acres - with up to 620 units allowed if affordability standards are met

  • Specify a 60-foot height limit and other development standards for the site. 

The 2018 Council actions - through the repeal and general plan amendment - drew negative attention from HCD and instituted more restrictive options on Sand Hill.

2018 – 2020: Better Cupertino Lawsuit

BC Sues Cupertino for Allowing SB-35 Project

• Friends of Better Cupertino (Kitty Moore, Ignatius Ding and Peggy Griffin) filed lawsuit in October 2018 against the City for its SB35 approval, claiming that City staff should not have approved the SB35 Project

• City Council did not defend the City’s SB35 position

• Hearing in December 2019 was delayed seven weeks after Bern Steves, attorney for plaintiffs Friends of Better Cupertino, suffered a medical emergency in court

• In May 2020, the Court’s Order upholds the City’s ministerial approval of the Vallco SB35 Project

  • On May 6, 2020, the Court rejects each of petitioner’s argument in a detailed 62-page decision. The Court rules that the City was correct to approve the Vallco SB35 Project.

  • The Court’s decision also made clear that a City’s staff is fully authorized to review and approve an SB35 project without involvement from the City Council

    • SB35 does authorize limited public oversight, as long as the oversight does not chill or inhibit project approval nor requires a decision to be made by a local planning commission

  • No appeal from Friends of Better Cupertino

  • This ruling is final 

Present Day & the future for vallco

After nearly a decade of debate, 5 plans, 2 ballot initiatives, and 2 lawsuits later, the site of Vallco still remains unconstructed, empty. Awaiting remediation permitting from the County, new visuals from Sand Hill present a vision of what the sight may look like in the future (see “The Rise”).

Drawing national attention across various news outlets, the fight over Vallco’s development is emblematic of the nationwide struggle to create new homes in the places that need them most. And as we have seen, the costs - the loss of community benefits, divisive community debates, the literal costs in delays and lawsuits - hurt us, our community, the most.

Through a fear of rejection, we have ended up with a “SB 35” project - a project, set for construction regardless of what any Council says or does. It is too late to radically change Vallco’s future, but it is not too late to change Cupertino’s future through the Housing Element process. Get involved, and make you voice heard.