Mayor of Cupertino abandons housing at Vallco, pushing for a retail-dominant complex at Vallco Mall

Below is an email from Reed Moulds, the Managing Director of Sand Hill Property Company:

Mayor abandons housing at Vallco, pushing for a retail-dominant complex at Vallco Mall, on eve of Vallco Specific Plan community engagement kick-off (please attend!)

Dear neighbor:

Wednesday night, during his State of the City address, Mayor Darcy Paul put forward his "personal" opinion of the future of Vallco. Unfortunately, his future looks to recreate past failures and calls for a retail-dominant mall with some office and little to no housing. If you haven’t seen his speech, you can watch it here.

His vision for the Vallco planning area is an inefficient 1.2 million square foot project, less than what exists today, where at least half of the space – 600,000 feet – would be reserved for retail.

Needless to say, such a project is infeasible and not supported by the market, and it just ensures that Vallco will not be revitalized and remain a vacant, dead mall. With his focus on retail and office, and accounting for the new hotel already being built there by another developer, his proposal doesn’t leave a lot of space for residential use. By ignoring the need for housing at Vallco – Cupertino’s best opportunity to provide real solutions to the housing crisis – the Mayor fails to acknowledge the single greatest challenge facing our region and the City of Cupertino, which happens to be the region’s most unaffordable city.

In October, compelled to address this unprecedented housing crisis, we requested that the City analyze alternatives to add significant housing through a Vallco Specific Plan and reduce housing demand generators like office and retail uses.

The timing of the Mayor’s statements about Vallco – which threaten to influence this planning process before the community engagement on the Vallco Specific Plan has even started – is irresponsible and disappointing. That is why we, once again, are asking for your help.

Next week on Monday, February 5, 2018 from 6 pm to 8:30 pm the City is hosting a “Vallco Specific Plan Kick-off Meeting” at Community Hall, a.k.a. Council Chambers. At this meeting the City’s planning consultant, Opticos Design, will further explain the Specific Plan, discuss the range of outcomes and ask the community to talk about their perspective on the future of Vallco.

With this note, we want to encourage you all to attend this first in a series of community meetings. Your voice is needed on the future of Vallco. The Opticos team should hear what the majority view of Cupertino is and how a smart and dynamic town center plan with a good mix of uses will benefit the City, the community and everyone who lives, works and is a visitor in Cupertino.

For our part, we are convinced more than ever that Vallco offers a unique opportunity to help address the region’s housing shortage and affordability crisis, while adding greatly to the lives of those of you who are already settled here. A sustainable mixed-use plan that includes shopping, dining, a cutting-edge entertainment district, community facilities, great streets and outdoor spaces, a meaningful amount of housing and a manageable amount of office has the tremendous potential to turn a lifeless part of the city into a vibrant and community-driven new downtown district. And let’s not forget that, absent significant mitigations, the most traffic-sensitive proposals are the ones where there is a balance among the different uses, not the ones that are office- or retail-heavy.

All around us, other cities throughout Silicon Valley are already setting examples. Delaying or undermining Vallco’s revitalization is a lose-lose strategy, not just for the landowner but for the Cupertino community as well. Let’s all help Cupertino’s decision-makers see the benefit of a realistic plan for Vallco through a collaborative planning process; my hope is this would have the dual benefit of preventing the partisan few from trying to sway it. But if supporters of true revitalization don’t show up and let themselves be heard, given the Mayor’s mindset, this process certainly cannot succeed.

We will continue to send updates throughout the rest of the process. Once again, thank you for your support.

Reed Moulds
Managing Director
Sand Hill Property Company

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