A Battle for Affordable Housing Is Being Waged Next to Apple Park

Cupertino, California is in the midst of a housing crisis. And one of the battles for affordable housing is taking place less than a mile from Apple Park.

Local developer Sand Hill Property Co. has tried for years to build housing at the site of the largely abandoned Vallco Shopping Mall. But the developer has faced stiff opposition from local resident groups, and hesitance by the Cupertino city government to approve the plans, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

But, reportedly, Sand Hill Property is taking advantage of a new California state law to fast-track development. The legislation, SB 35, implies the approval process — provided that projects are zoning-compliant and at least 50 percent of their housing units qualify as affordable.

On Tuesday, the developer filed an application to build about 2,400 housing units at the dying mall — half of which will be reserved for low-income residents, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. And due to SB 35, Sand Hill Property doesn’t need approval from the Cupertino City Council on the project, and it can sidestep criticism from local opposition groups.

Sand Hill’s project, the so-called Vallco Town Center, also includes about 1.8 million square feet of office space and 400,000 square feet of retail space, according to its plans.

“Every day the mall declines, and we have a huge hole in the middle of Cupertino,” Sand Hill Property’s Reed Moulds told the Chronicle. “Every day this housing crisis gets even more severe … Change needs to happen now.”

Not everyone agrees with the change, however. Local residents expressed concerns to the Chronicle about increases in traffic due to an influx of new residents. Other residents are opposed to the project’s planned offices — stating that any new office space could “exacerbate” the region’s housing crisis.

The Vallco Shopping Mall sits on a site adjacent to Apple’s Vallco Parkway offices. And the mall, which is largely abandoned, is basically in the shadow of Apple’s Apple Park headquarters.

Silicon Valley’s housing crisis is reportedly so severe that even extremely wealthy home buyers are having trouble finding any house in the Bay Area, The Mercury News reported. And according to CBS News, the high cost of housing is also adding fuel to a homelessness crisis in the region.