Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
San José staff: fee waivers help spur townhomes and stacked flats; podiums and towers remain largely unviable
Summary
City housing staff told the Planning Commission that townhomes and stacked flats are generally financially feasible in San José, while podium, wrap and tower projects face persistent cost and rent gaps; staff will present incentive proposals and an office‑conversion package to the City Council on Jan. 27.
San José’s housing director presented a citywide study of residential development costs on Jan. 14, telling the Planning Commission that unit types such as townhomes and stacked flats are generally financially viable while podiums, wraps and high‑rise towers remain difficult to build without substantial incentives.
Erik Sullivan, director of the city’s housing department, said the study was prepared with outside consultants (EPE and CSG) and used both city project agreements and aggregated market datasets. “El estudio de costos de desarrollo es algo que la ciudad realiza cada pocos años para evaluar cómo está actuando la industria del desarrollo, y que puede ayudar a informar las decisiones políticas,” Sullivan said while introducing the analysis.
The presentation explained the modeling framework and five building typologies used in the analysis. Sullivan and staff described a typical cost breakdown used in pro forma modeling: materials and supplies represent about 65–70% of hard construction cost while labor…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
