Large Silicon Valley Lots Being Split Up To Build More Housing
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – Silicon Valley's real estate market is so hot, the latest trend is building four houses where there used to be one.
On East Hills Drive in San Jose, the 1950's ranch home is gone. The half-acre lot, leveled for new construction.
When neighbors on learned that the lot's natural rock formation and an oak tree would be cleared to make room for up to four new homes, they blocked construction equipment.
"We parked our cars all along the side of the street here in front of the rock hillside and the oak tree to make it difficult for the big trucks to get in and out," said neighbor Dennis Burt.
It may be the most extreme example of neighbors fighting one of Silicon Valley's latest housing trends, called "lot splitting."
"People are taking larger properties and trying to divide them or subdividing them into two or three parcels and constructing additional homes to help meet the needs of people looking for a place to live," said realtor Myron Von Raesfeld.
Von Raesfeld is not just watching the trend, he's a partner in a project to split the lot on the back of a historic home near Downtown Santa Clara.
"The motivation for the seller is pretty big financially," Von Raesfeld said.
It's happening all over the valley, in older neighborhoods built when land was plentiful and cheap.
On Bel Ayre drive, workers are replacing a single tract home with two larger homes plus an in-law unit, boosting the property value from just over $1 million to about $4 million.
And on Toyon Road in San Jose, an older home's extra-large front yard is now split in two with two new homes coming.
Traffic is not the main concern for neighbors on East Hills Drive. They're afraid of losing what can never be replaced…open space and natural beauty.
"It really changes the character of the neighborhood," Burt said.
