CEQA Details

Below are answers to regarding CEQA. For any questions or concerns not addressed here, email workforcehousing@sjsu.edu.

• Will this project go through CEQA?

  • Yes. Transparency is critical to SJSU and essential to university principles of robust community engagement. In early Fall 2022, SJSU initiated a thorough and open California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review process. This is expected to complete in 2023.

• How will the community be involved?

  • Robust community engagement is a cornerstone of SJSU’s approach to completing this project. Several presentations and informational sessions undertaken with a renewed sense of purpose and clarity about the university's goals for Alquist began in fall 2022 and will continue moving forward.

• How long will the CEQA process take?

  • Following comprehensive planning, technical and financial feasibility studies, and ongoing community engagement, the CEQA process may take time, though the university anticipates being able to complete it by summer to fall 2023. This process may yield a Mitigated Negative Declaration that could be subject to CSU Board of Trustees approval. 

• Will this project require City of San José approval?

  • As the land will be transferred from the State of California Department of General Services to San José State University, the site will remain State property, under the jurisdiction of the CSU Board of Trustees. As such, no such review or approval will be required or applicable to this project. The only overriding consideration, in the form of building regulations, will be the Federal Aviation Administration’s building height limitation covering Downtown San José. As the Alquist Redevelopment will be, as all buildings Downtown, in the flight path for San José Mineta International Airport, height limitations will apply.

• Will this project have a height limit?

  • As the project site and ultimate resulting tower will have to conform to the Federal Aviation Administration’s building height limitation covering Downtown San José, the height will be limited. Most buildings in the immediate vicinity can rise to a maximum allowable height of 390 feet. However, as a consequence of the high cost of construction, most buildings typically reach a height of 300 feet, or on average 20 stories. The Alquist Redevelopment, according to current plans, is anticipated to reach 24 stories in height to accommodate all 1,000 apartment units.

• What will be done to address traffic?

  • While the project will contain a yet to be determined amount of on-site parking for residents and tenants, urban design and planning standards continue to evolve to embrace alternative and more sustainable forms of transportation that not only reduce carbon impact, but alleviate traffic in dense core areas around the site. Due to the proximity to public transit and to campus, this project presents a unique opportunity to reduce car traffic.

    Any documents or reports produced as part of the CEQA process as well as construction plans will include specific, or required, traffic mitigation measures.

• What will be done to address sustainability?

  • An essential component of smart land use is to locate housing near jobs to reduce car use and other carbon emissions. As an urban workforce housing project, Alquist benefits directly from pre-existing public transit along the western edge of the project site with VTA’s Blue and Green light rail lines stopping at the southbound San Antonio Station on Second Street. Ample bike lanes border the project site along Third Street and form part of Downtown San José’s comprehensive bike network. Wide pedestrian access along the Paseo as well as well-lit, heavily trafficked pathways to the Main Campus also contribute to non-motorized urban mobility already practiced in the area. 

• Will this project include open space? Community space?

  • As part of the market demand survey released and undertaken for Alquist, a range of uses for space both around, within, and on the project are being explored. The planning team remains open to any and all suggestions for use of the ground floor and communal spaces. Email campusmasterplan@sjsu.edu for suggestions. Currently, no formal requests or solicitations are being circulated or planned by the university at this early stage of the project.