Plans for hundreds of new, affordable housing units are now being pushed forward by the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. The agency is about to request approval from the City of San Jose to build 661 units on properties in the eastern portion of downtown, according to Mercury News.

Once completed, the development will span two adjacent lots with the bigger of the two sites at North 14th Street between East Santa Clara Street and East St. John Street. The other site is at the corner of East St. John Street and North 15th Street.

The first phase of the project will consist of 107 residences which will be called the ‘Hawthorn Senior Apartments.’ The next two phases will sit along East Santa Clara Street and are expected to contain 95 residences each.

Preston Prince, the Housing Authority’s new executive director told Mercury News, “It’s an amazing site. This is a great location. It’s in proximity to San Jose State University, City Hall, two future BART stations.”

Prince says once the project gets final approval from the city and approval on its financing the project could start construction sometime next year. “We hope to begin construction on the first phase of the affordable homes in 2022. This project is going ahead. The homes will be 100% affordable,” said Prince.

The agency did have previous plans to move its headquarters to the site where the new affordable housing project sits but now it is studying a proposal to move the headquarters to an office building in North San Jose at 3553 North First Street. The Housing Authority bought that property in December at a price of $37.35 million dollars.

Where the new headquarters ends up is still uncertain at this point. “We are still on track to move to the office building by the middle of next year,” Prince told Mercury News. “It’s a pretty substantial investment. The cost of real estate in Santa Clara County is quite high.”