Arya Apartments
Arya Apartments provides 87 affordable apartments in a gateway building to downtown San Jose’s SoFA (South of First Area) Arts and Entertainment District. The project’s design, amenities, and outreach strategies were developed to serve San Jose’s working artist community.
Owner
Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA)
Location
San Jose, CA
Size
95,000 SF
Stats
GreenPoint Rated Platinum
Image Credit
Bruce Damonte
The building’s amenities include a variety of common areas, workspaces, multipurpose rooms, and a landscaped courtyard. Working with Local Color, a San Jose arts organization, the project will also include a community flex space located at street level that can serve as a classroom, a gallery, and/or performance space for local artists and nonprofits and be accessible to residents and neighbors.
The colorful exterior design expresses the project’s location as a transition point between downtown high-rises and an adjacent historic single-family neighborhood. A robust community engagement process resulted in unanimous Planning Commission approval without opposition.
This project used the State Density Bonus Program to increase the number of apartments, and used the State affordable housing streamlined approval process to fast-track entitlements.
“We are seeing an acceleration of affordable housing developments with new and innovative approaches. It’s heartening to see the traction we are making, despite the pandemic, in building not just affordable housing, but great communities.”
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo
