Campbell has officially put a new state housing shortcut on the clock, breaking ground last Friday on Mercury Lane Townhomes, a six-unit project city officials openly describe as a test case for small-scale ownership. The townhomes are going up on a single lot and will feature three- and four-bedroom floor plans with two-car garages, with developer AlphaX RE Capital targeting completion in early 2027.
State Sen. Anna Caballero joined local leaders at the site to call the launch a milestone for California’s Starter Home law. As reported by KQED, the Mercury Lane project at 300 Redding Road is believed to be the first construction under SB-684. It will include six for-sale townhomes with projected starting prices of about $1.15 million, ranging roughly from 1,400 to 2,000 square feet, and is being marketed to younger, first-time buyers at prices that fall below Campbell’s median home value.
How the law changes the permit path
SB-684, the Starter Home Revitalization Act, creates a ministerial approval track for qualifying projects of two to ten units and requires cities to act within 60 days when objective standards are met. That process removes discretionary hearings and many environmental delays for eligible proposals while keeping limits on which sites qualify and on average unit size. See SB-684 for the full bill text and details.
Developer: streamlined rules made this viable
AlphaX RE Capital is pitching Mercury Lane as a proof of concept for small-lot, for-sale construction, saying the faster review timeline is what made the numbers work on a constrained site. The firm has publicly outlined a pipeline of similar Bay Area projects and plans to open a buyer interest list midway through construction. The application for the Campbell project was submitted under the SB-684 process in January 2025 and cleared ministerial review eight months later, a timeline the company says reduced financing and holding costs, according to a release from AlphaX RE Capital.
Campbell’s local policy footing
The city has put an interim ordinance in place and published detailed instructions for starter home projects, spelling out which sites can qualify, minimum lot sizes, and the objective standards applicants must meet. Campbell also has a certified housing element and appears on the state’s list of Prohousing Designation jurisdictions, a status that can move cities up the line for certain funding streams and incentives. For more, see the City of Campbell starter home guidance and the state’s Prohousing Designation page.
What to watch next
AlphaX says it will open an interest list partway through construction and hopes the small-lot townhome approach can be repeated around the region if market conditions and financing hold up. Housing advocates and skeptics alike will be watching the sale prices, delivery timeline, and whether the ministerial process lowers the odds of long delays without wiping out community input. The law allows streamlined approvals only when objective standards are satisfied, so the early experiment in Campbell will be closely watched for whether it genuinely speeds up production or simply channels disputes into new forums.
