Santa Clara Agrihood: 44 Townhomes in Place of 160 Rentals

The Core Companies wants to build 44 for-sale townhomes on the last empty parcel of the Santa Clara Agrihood, the farm-centered development on North Winchester Boulevard. The city approved 160 rental apartments for the same 1.8 acres in 2019.

City planning staff recommend denying the Santa Clara Agrihood townhomes rezone, mainly because the swap would cut the whole Agrihood from 361 homes to 245. The Planning Commission hears it on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, and the City Council makes the final call after that.

The Santa Clara Agrihood so far

The site sits at Worthington Circle and North Winchester Boulevard, on land that was once the University of California’s Bay Area Research and Extension Center, directly across Winchester from Westfield Valley Fair. The City Council approved the project unanimously in January 2019 with 165 affordable senior apartments, 160 mixed-income apartments, 36 townhomes and a 1.5-acre farm.

According to the city staff report, the senior apartments, the 36 townhomes, the farm, a cafe and a community kitchen are all built. The senior homes and the farm opened in September 2023. Only the 160 apartments remain.

On our map the site falls in Santa Clara Southeast, the stretch from Homestead Road south to Stevens Creek Boulevard that takes in Valley Fair. It scores 3.8 out of 5 overall, second of seven neighborhoods in our Santa Clara rankings.

361 homes approved, 245 proposed

The two density figures in the staff report measure different areas. The 361 homes at 62.2 per acre cover the whole 5.8-acre Agrihood. The new plan’s 24.44 per acre is the 1.8-acre parcel alone, 44 homes divided by 1.8 acres.

Run the same math across the full site and the Agrihood would land at about 42 homes per acre (245 divided by 5.8). The affordable count barely moves because the 165 senior apartments are already standing.

Bedroom counts are from SF YIMBY’s September preview of the Steinberg Hart plans. The rest is from the staff report.

Why the developer wants townhomes

The applicant told the city that current market conditions do not allow it to move forward with the 160 mixed-income apartments, and the Agrihood’s own project page points to post-pandemic financial circumstances.

For a buyer, the proposal means a new ownership option in a part of Santa Clara where much of the housing is 1950s and 1960s ranch houses and garden apartments.

Townhome prices at the Agrihood and nearby

The best reference is next door. A three-bedroom, 1,636-square-foot townhome among the 36 already built at the Agrihood sold for $1,651,000 in September 2025, with a $397 monthly HOA fee.

For context, the median sale price in Santa Clara Southeast was about $1.79M in September 2026, and the Santa Clara citywide median was about $1.86M the same month. The six moderate-income townhomes would be spread through the project with the same bedroom counts as the market-rate homes, and the builder would pay an in-lieu fee for the remaining fraction of a unit.

For renters, the change runs the other way. The 160 apartments would have included 16 affordable rentals, and the new plan has no rentals. Santa Clara has seen a similar mix of townhomes and apartments elsewhere, including University Station by the Caltrain station and the 16 townhouses on Civic Center Drive.

Why staff recommend denial, and who wrote in

Staff say the rezone conflicts with the city’s Housing Element, the state-required plan for where new homes can go. The 160 apartments were counted toward Santa Clara’s state target of 11,632 homes for 2023 to 2031. The report calls the parcel a vacant, high-opportunity site served by VTA Rapid 523 and Routes 59 and 60, which together qualify as a major transit stop.

Of 40 comment letters, 25 supported the townhomes, citing parking and traffic, a preference for ownership over rental, and community safety. The other 15 opposed, citing the drop from 160 homes to 44, long-term affordability and financing.

From the commission to the City Council

The item was first noticed for the September 2 commission meeting and dropped at the applicant’s request, according to the staff report. The Silicon Valley Voice covered the pull and staff’s plan to bring it back. On October 7 the commission will vote on recommending denial of the rezone and the vesting tentative map, and on approving an addendum to the Agrihood’s original environmental impact report.

Whatever the commission recommends, the rezone and the vesting tentative map then go to the City Council for a final decision.

Sources

• City of Santa Clara, Planning Commission staff report, File 26-1035, 1816 Worthington Circle
• ABC7, Santa Clara city leaders unanimously approve agrihood project, January 2019
• Agrihood Santa Clara, project updates and timeline
• SF YIMBY, Meeting Tomorrow For Agrihood Townhomes, September 2026
• Silicon Valley Voice, Agrihood rezone pulled, September 2026
• Sale record, 2013 Worthington Circle, September 2025
• Median sale prices from houseberry.com neighborhood and city price history, September 2026