Santa Clara Approves $6.5 Billion Development

Santa Clara’s city council unanimously approved the $6.5 billion City Place Santa Clara mixed-use development on Tuesday. The project will be built next to the San Fransisco 49ers new stadium, Levi’s Stadium, and will be constructed over the next 10 to 20 years. The approval from the city council allows Steven Ross’s development firm Related to begin the final planning phase. Santa Clara officials are excited by the development and look forward to getting a new downtown area after the city’s previous downtown was torn down in the 1950s and 60s.

Over the past year, the development plan has expanded from 5.2 million square feet to 8 million square feet due to added density mostly from office space. The huge price tag for the project, almost as much as the new east span of the Bay Bridge, also increased from $1.5 billion when the project was first introduced to $6.5 billion. The updated pricing includes roughly $2 billion of inflation over the next 10 to 20 years.

The development will be located next to the 49ers highly publicized $1.3 billion new stadium. Related will build the development across the street from the stadium on land currently used by a golf course and BMX track. City Place will include offices, 30 restaurants, a 350-room hotel, 380 apartment units and over a million square feet of shops. The plan also includes a movie theater, art district, and a couple parks. The project will be completed in seven construction phases. City Place will support 23,000 jobs once completed and create over 1,000 jobs during construction.

The privately financed City Place development has a 99-year lease from the city of Santa Clara and will pay between $23 and $28 million per year in tax and rent revenues. The city expects to approve construction a year from now and begin  building in early 2016. The first phase will be completed in 2019.  While some Santa Clara residents think the development is too big and costs too much, most people are excited to know a downtown area will be returning to Santa Clara after fifty years.