Santa Clara project pairs hundreds of homes with golf course

The owners of the Pruneridge Golf Club are teeing up hundreds of homes to be built alongside the nine-hole course — but first they must reconfigure it.

Demmon Family Partnership filed plans with Santa Clara in mid-May to build two apartment buildings on part of the Pruneridge Golf Club, adding 324 apartments, of which at least 48 will be affordable housing. It will also include underground parking, a rooftop deck and pool. The 4.9-acre housing development will sit on 30 acres, which also includes the golf course and driving range. It’s still under review by the city, and the developers are expecting initial comments by late July.

It will be years before this development, called “The Greens,” comes to fruition. The Demmon Partners, which owns the land that the course is on, said on its website the aim is to start construction in 2028, depending on the city’s review. There are also plans to modernize the golf course, including a new layout. The website said when the golf course modernization begins, the course will close for six months to a year, but it’s expected to be open during construction of the apartments.

Sean Morley, co-founder of the Morley Bros. real estate firm, said the golf course’s redesign is still underway and a more detailed plan will be developed. Morley, who is helping with the project entitlements, added that initial community feedback on the housing and golf course developments have been positive.

“The housing crisis in Silicon Valley continues unabated so when it comes to creating new residential communities like this one, there is no better time than the present to get started creating hundreds of new homes for Santa Clara residents,” Morley told San José Spotlight.

Santa Clara has to add 11,632 homes by 2031 to meet state housing requirements, of which 4,525 must be affordable for residents making 80% and lower than Santa Clara County’s median income. In 2023, that was $181,300 for a family of four.

The city has fielded some of the largest housing development projects in Silicon Valley, including the decadeslong Related project, which promises 1,700 apartments along with space for hotels, offices, restaurants and more. Santa Clara has six separate plans to guide dense growth in various parts of the city.

Demmon Partners has owned the golf course since the 1970s and Touchstone Golf handles operations. Charlie Demmon, a partner with Demmon Partners, said the group is excited about the project.

“It is an incredible community asset and we take great pride in our stewardship of the course,” Demmon told San José Spotlight. “We are eager to revitalize the golf course to make it more playable and sustainable for the next 50 years while also creating an incredible new housing community for Santa Clara residents.”

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While enjoying a cold drink after playing nine holes, golfer Joe Glynn said denser housing is what the county needs. He’s been coming to the club regularly for the past few months and said he wished there were more opportunities to own housing. Glynn, a member of San Jose’s Vision Zero Task Force, said his biggest concern was about traffic safety in the area, as one of the streets bordering the club, Saratoga Avenue, has been identified as a priority safety corridor.

“My biggest concern for all these developments would be safety for pedestrians, cyclists, children and older adults,” Glynn told San José Spotlight. “They’re increasingly vulnerable in the urban village concept.”

Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.