SummerHill Housing Group is making a play for one of the largest remaining development sites near the under-construction Milpitas BART station in what would be the developer's first-ever project in that city.
The San Ramon-based company, through its SummerHill Apartment Communities arm, is in contract for a 9.8-acre chunk of land bounded by Great Mall Parkway, Center Pointe Drive and Montague Expressway. While plans are still early, SummerHill is considering three buildings with 720 units and 36,000 square feet of retail space, Robert Freed, president and chief executive officer of SummerHill Housing Group, told me in a phone call last week.
The major proposal comes as developers keep humming along in adding more housing product in Milpitas, particularly in the Great Mall district where the Valley Transportation Authority is racing ahead on the new BART extension. A 2008 "transit area specific plan" paved the way for a massive redevelopment of vast swaths of industrial land, and builders and land developers have responded enthusiastically during the current economic cycle.