Project Overview

Below are answers to important questions about this workforce housing project. For any questions or concerns not addressed here, email workforcehousing@sjsu.edu.

• What is the Alquist

  • Officially the Alfred E. Alquist Building, the site functions as a three-story, 134,000-square-feet State of California office building. Through a law championed by former State Senator Jim Beall and Assemblymember Ash Kalra and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021, the State of California Department of General Services will transfer ownership of the land and property at the Alquist Redevelopment site to San José State University along with an initial State General Fund investment of $250,000.

• Where is the Alquist Redevelopment?

  • The building complex is located at 100 Paseo de San Antonio in downtown San José, California. The location is bounded by Third Street to the east, Second Street to the west, and the San Carlos Parking Garage, owned and operated by the City of San José, to the complex’s immediate south. The site is located directly across from the Hammer Theater Center and conveniently located one block west of the Main SJSU Campus.

• What will this project be called when finished?

  • As the project continues through various stages of approval, planning, design, and construction, SJSU will conduct a renaming process that will gather community input for a new, future-forward name for the completed project.

• Why is this project necessary?

  • This project is an urgent opportunity to pursue one critical component of SJSU's larger, comprehensive approach to housing that is within reach for the SJSU community. The viability of up to 1,000 apartment units on-site, with up to half reserved for graduate students, faculty, and staff and the other half for non-University affiliated renters and tenants, can (if housing is determined to be feasible and plans are approved by the CSU) become SJSU’s most transformative development project in decades. Addressing the imbalance between jobs and housing in one of the most competitive markets for either can ensure that SJSU takes responsibility to safeguard the campus community's long-term stability. 

• Why is this project being pursued first, over other projects?

  • Future housing developments, as outlined in the upcoming Campus Master Plan, are intended attract students to San José State, help them graduate on time, and attract and retain faculty and staff that help make SJSU vibrant. The Alquist Building and the land on which it is situated, was donated to SJSU from the State of California. Allowing that site to remain vacant after a formal transfer of the property to SJSU is an untenable direction that the university will not adopt. Instead, pursuing housing at this site, with a comprehensive development plan allows the university to go into its approach to housing with momentum and expertise to then pursue other projects in the future. In short: building housing for faculty, staff, and graduate students now does not get in the way of developing housing for other campus constituencies later on, it simply clears and prioritizes what can be accomplished quickly.

• What is workforce housing?

  • Workforce housing is housing that accommodates wage-earners making anywhere from 80% to 120% of the area median income, or, AMI. As of 2022, 80% of AMI for a single wage-earner translates to $94,360, annually, and 120% of AMI is $141,540. For households with four persons, 80% of AMI is $134,800 and 120% of AMI is $202,200. Workforce housing is designed to accommodate a subset of individuals and household types from the full range of income-earners who are priced out from both the low and high ends of the housing market. The Alquist Redevelopment initially aims to offer rents at a lower income scale, at up to 100% AMI for eligible SJSU-affiliated residents. The overwhelming bulk of SJSU employees qualify within the defined range of incomes for workforce housing.

• How much will this cost?

  • As the planning process continues, exact cost estimates vary and a definitive number of total cost will remain contingent on the results of the contracting process with selected development partners. In the current landscape, where uncertainty around labor, supply chain issues, inflation, and financing challenges, the cost of developing the Alquist site will continue to evolve and can escalate given a range of factors, some of which remain beyond control. Nevertheless, SJSU is preparing a set of contigency measures to keep the project within budget. As a tentative figure, SJSU is planning for an initial project cost estimate of $750,000,000.

    Funding for the project will not come out of the University General Fund and the cost will not be borne by any existing or new fees levied on students and staff. Instead, the entire cost will be borne through an equity model in which the selected developer will bring their own capital to the project. The project will not negatively impact academic programming or future housing projects. The project does not tap into campus reserves or leverage systemwide revenue bonds from the CSU. Such funding will be steered toward facilities that support the core academic mission of SJSU, including but not limited to main campus building construction and rehabilitation.

• When will this project be completed?

  • Demolition of the site and construction may begin as early as late 2024. Construction of the new building(s) may take upwards of 30 months. The earliest, planned opening of a new facility at the location may happen at some point in 2027.

• How can I get updates?

  • Sign up to receive project updates or email workforcehousing@sjsu.edu with any feedback, questions, concerns, and comments.