SERA to Design Mass-Timber Affordable Housing in San Jose

We’re excited to announce that the nonprofit housing group First Community Housing has selected SERA and our partners Lendlease to design and build their most ambitious affordable housing project to date: a 365-unit LEED-Platinum development near the San Jose Diridon Station. Named McEvoy Apartments, the project will be built using an innovative mass timber frame with a traditional lateral system.

“McEvoy Apartments is the embodiment of everything we value at SERA, taken to the next level,” said Principal and Director of California Housing Veronica Hinkley Reck. “The transit-oriented development prioritizes sustainability, vibrant placemaking, cutting-edge construction techniques and the health and wellbeing of the people who will live there.”

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The project will help to address the state’s crucial housing needs for low-income residents, and will be 100% affordable. First Community has a long history of demonstrating that affordable housing can be highly sustainable, innovative and beautifully designed. Hinkley Reck said the team has designed McEvoy Apartments with the goal of being viewed by everyone who lives in the community as an iconic development that bridges and connects communities.

Nicknamed the “Grand Central Station of the West,” Diridon Station will be at the center of an extensive new development over the next decade. Located at 699 West San Carlos Street, the McEvoy Apartments will be a major feature. The project, which was approved unanimously by the San Jose City Council in February 2020, consists of two 12-story towers over a podium, rooftop gardens, a courtyard and generous gathering areas. One tower will include 141 apartments geared toward families in one, two and three-bedroom units. The second tower will provide 224 studios for working individuals and couples.

Commenting on the collaborative chemistry of the team, the President of First Community Housing Geoffrey Morgan said SERA and Lendlease have “demonstrated that they share our value of elevating the resident experience through sustainable, innovative design.” He added, “The team’s experience with sustainably harvested mass timber ensures a design that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also mitigates climate change through carbon sequestration.”

Construction of the McEvoy Apartments is slated to begin in early 2022.