Sand Hill Property Co. has hired affordable housing expert Candice Gonzalez in preparation for the Vallco Mall project in Cupertino.
In September, Gonzalez will leave her position as president and CEO at affordable housing developer Palo Alto Housing to become Sand Hill’s chief housing officer and managing director, according to the San Francisco Business Journal.
“I am passionate about housing for all income levels and my new position at Sand Hill Property Co. will allow me to continue to make a positive impact in the housing world,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
Last month, the City of Cupertino moved one step closer to realizing Sand Hill’s Vallco Town Center proposal, which features 2,402 homes, half of which will be designated as affordable for low- and very low-income households. The project received a “Notice of Streamlining Eligibility,” putting it in line to become the first project in California to be approved under SB 35, a newly enacted law that aims to streamline residential projects to address the housing supply crisis.
Vallco Town Center includes a 30-acre rooftop park, ground level open space including a destination town center plaza, and a retail and entertainment district to be anchored by new, state-of-the-art movie theaters, bowling alley and ice facilities.
Sand Hill Property Company expects “to receive its entitlements for the project” this fall, according to the Business Journal.
Gonzalez will be working on this project and others as the part of the developer’s aim to address the housing crisis.
“We simply don’t have enough housing in the South Bay,” Leslye Corsiglia, executive director of affordable housing advocacy nonprofit, SV@Home, told the Business Journal.
Before joining Palo Alto Housing in 2008, Gonzales graduated from UC Berkeley and UCLA School of Law. Sheryl Klein, the board chair at Palo Alto Housing, said she is leaving the organization in “a very strong position with a healthy pipeline of projects” and has assembled a “strong team.”
Peter Pau, principal and founder of Sand Hill Property Company, said Gonzalez’s expertise is welcome to fulfill the company’s “commitment to increasing housing supply and creating more affordable housing opportunities.”