Affordable high-rise housing is closer to sprouting along El Camino Real in Santa Clara, but it would displace numerous local businesses.
Pennsylvania-based developer Toll Brothers wants to replace more than a dozen stores in Santa Clara’s longstanding Moonlite Shopping Center with 601 homes at 2610 El Camino Real. The development proposal includes a trio of six- to seven-story buildings, divided between market-rate condos and 166 affordable apartments. The 14.3-acre project also includes plans for 159 three-story townhomes, 60,000 square feet of open space and thousands of square feet of commercial space.
Toll Brothers, which was unavailable for comment, is partnering with affordable housing developer USA Properties Fund to provide eviction prevention, social services connections and after-school programs. The development still needs City Council approval, and Toll Brothers aims to complete the project by 2029. If it goes through, businesses in the shopping center will have to move.
Dilkush Bakery and Cafe is one of the small businesses located in the shopping center. It opened about two months ago and serves Indian pastries and Iranian chai…