The long-empty former Hick'ry Pit on East Campbell Avenue may soon trade barbecue smoke for balcony views, as a seven-story apartment building is now on the table for the prominent corner across from The Pruneyard. The concept would replace the onetime family restaurant with hundreds of rental homes, ground-floor shops and a rooftop hangout, and it is already stirring up familiar Campbell debates about growth, neighborhood character and state housing pressure.
As reported by San José Spotlight, Saratoga-based E. Barbano Enterprises has submitted preliminary plans for the roughly 2.4-acre site at 980 E. Campbell Ave. The early design shows a single seven-story structure with about 324 apartments, ground-floor retail and a mix of underground and above-ground parking for roughly 577 vehicles. Amenities sketched out in the filing include a fitness room, pool, spa and a top-floor common deck. "In terms of location, next to The Pruneyard, it’s a great place for residential building," Campbell Community Development Director Rob Eastwood told San José Spotlight.
Project filings and the site's history
City records for a proposal called "Cannery Place" outline an earlier concept that would have split the property into a seven-story residential building and a separate seven-story hotel, and list the parcel at about 2.445 acres, according to the City of Campbell. The public packet (PLN-2024-118) includes architectural tabulations, site diagrams and parking estimates that make clear the plan has shifted away from that initial split-use idea. The latest filing lands as Campbell is under pressure to plan for 2,977 new homes by 2031, including roughly 1,186 units for low-income households, per the City of Campbell.
Local reaction and hurdles
Supporters argue that a dense, mixed-use project at that stretch of East Campbell makes sense given its proximity to shopping and transit. But people involved with the proposal warn that the financial picture is tight. John Pringle, a member of the group pursuing the project, told San José Spotlight that Campbell's 15 percent inclusionary affordable-housing requirement and related fees are major obstacles to making the numbers work. Campbell Chamber CEO Ken Johnson told San José Spotlight he supports a mixed-use approach on the parcel and sees it as a logical place to add more housing.
What happens next
The current filing is only an opening move. The developer still has to submit formal plans, complete environmental and transportation studies and negotiate specifics with city staff before the project can reach public hearings. If the application advances, it is likely to face Planning Commission and City Council review, additional technical studies and rounds of community input. There is no construction timeline yet, and both the applicant and city staff say the proposal is in an early phase that could change.
If it goes forward, the project would bring a sizable block of new housing within walking distance of downtown Campbell, The Pruneyard and nearby transit options. It would also sharpen the tradeoffs small cities confront as they try to meet aggressive state housing targets while holding onto a sense of local identity. For residents who remember gathering at the Hick'ry Pit, the fight over this corner lot is as much about what Campbell becomes next as it is about what physically rises on the site.
