After being under discussion for that many years, the $11.7 million condominium complex has finally gained the approval of the San Jose City Council, which recently voted in favor of entering an agreement with a local developer.

San Jose-based Barry Swenson Builder has received the green light to construct 32 for-sale condos at the northeast corner of Almaden Expressway and Coleman Road nest to the Water District building. Seventeen of those units will be designated affordable, sold to moderate- or low-income households.

As part of the agreement, Swenson has already started work on building a pedestrian bridge that will link the Guadalupe Creek Trail to the Los Alamitos Trail.

"I wanted to see that corner of the trail system done by the time I leave office," said Vice Mayor and District 10 council representative Pat Dando, who has been involved with the project since she came to office in 1995.

Dando emphasized that the project will be a "natural" one, with her insistence on keeping the existing oak trees, the trails and the nearby lake.

At the Oct. 21 council meeting, Mayor Ron Gonzales and other council members congratulated city staff and Barry Swenson representatives for their work on Sycamore Terrace, noting the affordable-housing element.

According to Leslye Corsiglia, San Jose's director of housing, the 17 affordable units will be sold at varying below-market rates. For two of them, "the city will be putting money into it," Corsiglia said. "We'll be providing second mortgages for those families."

"It's critical that we have affordable ownership housing available," Corsiglia said, "to keep people that we need in our community"—ranging from entry-level high-tech professionals to those in the retail industry to teachers and firefighters and policemen.

The project's history dates back to 1990, when the city changed the zoning of the 1.42-acre parcel to allow for the development of what was then called the Playa Almaden complex. In 1996, the project had stalled, and the city took the site back from then-developer Nelson-Maples Development through foreclosure.

By law, Corsiglia said, "we had a 10-year clock to make it happen after taking it back from the developer."

From 2000 to 2003, the city and Pulte Home Corporation tried to come up with a plan that worked. Early this year, however, Pulte withdrew its involvement, citing the incarnation of the design—59 units and underground parking—as a problem.

Corsiglia said the economy had changed since Sycamore Terrace was first proposed, and condo ownership issues put Pulte in a tough spot legally. "They felt like this time, it wasn't something they wanted to deal with," she said.

As a result, the city approached various development companies to replace Pulte, and selected Swenson as the best fit over the summer.

"He's here for the long term," Corsiglia said of company president Barry Swenson. "He does a lot for San Jose, even if he doesn't make a lot of money."

The company worked with the city to reconfigure the site to make the project more financially feasible. Project manager Christy Reynolds said the decision to decrease the number of units to 32 eliminated the need for underground parking, and cut costs.

According to Reynolds, the next step is for Swenson to work with the city to obtain a planned development permit, which includes details such as square footage of the condominiums. Reynolds said she hopes to have the permit approved by next March, then apply for a building permit, and receive approval for the building permit by August.

"Our goal is to break ground in September of next year," Reynolds said.

To Dando, there are a few crucial issues that need to be worked out before the project can be deemed successful. Those include making sure that the new interconnected trail system works and that Sycamore Terrace remains a natural setting despite being developed.

Dando said she is also concerned with transportation and access-related issues, such as improving the median island on Coleman; traffic safety of the residents, drivers and trail users; and light rail use.

"The whole reason for building density along that corridor is to access light rail," Dando said. In that vein, Dando said she is hoping the VTA will offer incentives to residents to use the light rail station nearby.

The development, Dando said, will be similar to Almaden Lake Village on Coleman at Winfield Boulevard.

Bob Boydston, president of the Almaden Valley Community Association, said people are used to the high-density, transit-oriented kind of development because of Almaden Lake Village, and that the existing project works well.

"But the premise is wrong," Boydston said. "It's there for light rail. Nobody uses light rail. It doesn't go where we need to go."

Despite the Oct. 21 meeting being a public hearing, Boydston said he had not heard any news about the project and assumed it was still dormant. Boydston added that the last time Sycamore Terrace had come before the association—when Pulte had put it on hold—there was no reaction, positive or negative, from the association's board members.

However, Dando predicts a "good mix of neighbors" living in the condos. "I believe this will be a housing development that will certainly increase in value," she says. "It's a small site, but I think for the 30 families that live there, it'll be a special neighborhood."