A Bay Area developer has filed plans to tear down an aging office building on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell and replace it with 444 apartments, adding another major residential proposal to a stretch of the city already reshaping itself around The Pruneyard shopping center. Pacific Development's proposal calls for an eight-story building with a three-story concrete podium topped by five wood-framed stories, rooftop terrace, and parking for 480 cars.
According to The Real Deal, the planned complex would replace a two-story office building built in 1979 and would sit less than a mile from the Pruneyard Shopping Center. The building itself would total 630,000 square feet and include 268 one-bedroom apartments, 112 two-bedroom apartments and 64 studio apartments, with rows of balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows lining the exterior. No timeline or project cost has been disclosed.
The 3.6-acre site at 1475 South Bascom Avenue was previously listed in Campbell's 6th Cycle Housing Element as a commercial corridor mixed-use location with an estimated capacity of just 160 housing units, according to a filing with the City of Campbell. Pacific Development's 444-unit pitch is nearly triple that original baseline. Property records reviewed by griddig identify the existing structure as Creekside Business Mall, with ownership listed to Creekside Business Mall LLC.
A City Falling Short of State Housing Targets
Campbell is required under California's 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation to plan for 2,977 new housing units by 2031, but city records show only 253 units — roughly 10% of that target — were produced through the end of 2025. City officials have attributed the slow pace to difficult market conditions constraining high-density residential projects, a dynamic that puts added weight on large single-site proposals like the one now filed for South Bascom Avenue.
Any project of five or more units in Campbell is subject to a mandatory 15% affordable housing inclusionary requirement for low- and moderate-income households under Campbell Municipal Code Chapter 21.24. The stakes are underscored by figures from SV@Home, which found that as of 2023 deed-restricted affordable housing made up just 1.8% of Campbell's total housing stock — 333 units out of 18,510 homes citywide, in a city where single-family detached homes represent over 45% of the total housing stock.
Office Values Sinking as Housing Pressure Builds
The push to convert commercial buildings into apartments comes as suburban office values across the region continue to slide. Hoodline reported that the nearby Vasona Tech Park sold in September for $32 million less than its 2021 acquisition price, part of a broader slump in secondary suburban office assets across Silicon Valley marked by elevated vacancies and steep price cuts. Campbell also carries a jobs-to-housing ratio of 1.28.
Pacific Development is no stranger to the area. Per The Real Deal, the Alameda-based firm — founded by Sean Murphy in 2017 — has built more than 2,500 apartments across the Bay Area and Reno, Nevada, according to the company's website, including Campbell's Revere complex with 168 apartment units and ground-floor shops, and the 293-unit Aire complex in North San Jose. The firm linked up with PGIM Real Estate in 2023, and the pair had planned to bring 760 homes to a redeveloped Alameda Marina, the outlet noted.
Part of a Wider Wave Near The Pruneyard
The Bascom Avenue filing lands amid a cluster of high-density residential proposals converting commercial land around The Pruneyard. Saratoga-based E. Barbano Enterprises submitted plans in May for a 7-story, 324-unit apartment complex replacing the former Hick'ry Pit restaurant at 980 East Campbell Avenue, with ground-floor retail and a top-floor common deck.
The trend extends beyond Campbell's borders. In Santa Clara and San Jose, Morley Bros. and Bisby Land plan to raze four office buildings spanning 11 acres to build 409 apartments and townhomes, according to the same Real Deal report. Valley Oak Partners, meanwhile, plans to turn part of Oracle's former Santa Clara office campus into a neighborhood of 584 homes, demolishing nearly 500,000 square feet of vacant office space in the process — and is separately building a 737-unit apartment and townhome community in North San Jose directly adjacent to Pacific Development's Aire complex, according to San Francisco YIMBY.
Despite the office glut, the article notes that demand for less-than-premium office space remains weak while housing demand remains strong — a combination developers across Silicon Valley appear increasingly eager to exploit as they trade vacant cubicles for new apartments.
