The Greens at Pruneridge
In Design
400 Saratoga Ave, Santa Clara, CA 95050
Project Overview
• Project Type: Market-rate & affordable
• Owner/Developer: Demmon Partners
• Presented to our members: July 2026
Catalyze SV evaluates project sustainability, equity, and vibrancy. Learn about our project review process.
The Greens at Pruneridge project proposes 316 homes in a 5-story building, including 31 affordable homes at up to 120% AMI and another 16 at up to 50% AMI. The project would include 414 car parking spaces (another 7-story building) and 332 bike parking spaces, a 1.74-acre park, yet no space for commercial uses. It requires a General Plan Amendment to proceed.
The Greens at Pruneridge scored an overall 3.86 out of 5 from our Project Advocacy Committee members.
Community Score: 4/5
Catalyze SV members appreciate that Demmon Partners and its development team have met repeatedly with neighbors surrounding the golf course site, and with golfers themselves, especially since the project is multifaceted with many changes over several years. It’s valuable that the developer has held wider, city-involved community meetings too. However, the development team hasn’t reached out to any other groups outside the hyper-local context besides ours, including underrepresented groups or specifically potential residents of the affordable homes who would most benefit from this project. Doing this deeper community engagement and/or incorporating Catalyze SV’s suggested improvements below would result in an opportunity for us to re-score this project higher.
Vibrancy Score: 4/5
Our members highlighted the dedicated public park as far and away the best example of vibrancy on this project. This will be a key addition for the neighborhood. We’re interested to see how the park gets designed and interfaces with this new housing proposed and the neighborhood. We like how the design is treating Pruneridge Avenue to make it more pedestrian-friendly. These improvements will make using the businesses across the street easier. Other members cited the activation of the rooftop for residents as a positive to this project; another mentioned keeping the clubhouse as a key part of this neighborhood. Speaking of which, we wonder if there is an opportunity missed here: Catalyze SV members love to see ground-floor activation of residential buildings, and this project doesn’t include any commercial components. One aspect of a Clubhouse is its impact as a gathering place; many also include restaurants. Why not bring the Clubhouse closer to Pruneridge Ave? Moving it there can better activate the new housing building and attract business from its residents, who may not know about the Clubhouse, or wish to enter a golf course site to get there. Perhaps it could be switched with the location of the proposed new maintenance shop.
Transportation Score: 4/5
Catalyze SV members always prefer projects that unbundle parking; we’re grateful Demmon Partners has made that decision to offer parking based on need and not force residents who live car-lite or car-free to pay for spaces. Our members are also glad that – following the City of Santa Clara’s requirement – there is one bike parking space for every apartment. We’re also pleasantly surprised to see the developer commit to an on-site transit coordinator to help residents navigate how to get around; this will be a value-add for residents and the project. As part of the developer’s transportation demand management plan, we are excited to see participation in a bike share program included. At the corner of two major, wide roads, our members did have some healthy skepticism of how walkable this site will be and how much the developer’s measures will improve alternative forms of mobility. To that end, our members suggest Demmon Partners include at least a decade of free transit passes for residents to help reach the project’s and our region’s goal of reducing vehicle miles traveled.
Intensity/Zoning Score: 3/5
Golf courses traditionally include hyper-low density uses, so how refreshing to see this housing project with a mid-rise building overlooking a golf course. That being said, our members unanimously cited that the project wasn’t tall enough. Along those lines, members noted it was incongruent that the parking part of the structure is taller – by 13 feet – than the housing portion. Since the developer is proposing a General Plan Amendment to increase density on the site, it stands to reason that the developer could come closer to the allowed 99 units per acre versus the 85 units per acre proposed. Since this site is along major streets like Pruneridge and San Tomas Expressway, it’s well-suited for additional height.
Sustainability Score: 4/5
There can be overlap between measures that contribute to Transportation and Sustainability, though it’s important to highlight those efforts specific to the latter. Overwhelmingly, our members cited solar panels on the building’s rooftop and recycled water as noteworthy sustainability efforts (recycled water is especially essential when golf courses are involved). Another member cited keeping mature trees as a positive of this proposal. As we usually do, we encourage the developer to commit to a third-party sustainability certification, and to achieve the highest levels of sustainability.
Affordability Score: 3/5
The developer is building 15% of the total project units as affordable housing; this is exactly what the City requires. Moreover, two-thirds of those affordable units are for people whose income is 80 to 120% of the area median income (AMI), which is incredibly high in Santa Clara County, thus making the housing not that affordable in reality (and often in line with market-rate rents). Meanwhile, the other one-third of the affordable homes – 16 out of the total 316 homes – will be reserved for people making up to 50% of the AMI. These 16 homes will be much more in-line with truly affordable housing. To receive our highest scores, projects need to exceed what the law mandates. So increasing the number of homes at a lower AMI level would presumably easily increase this project’s Affordability score.
Legacy Score: 5/5
This is a category our members don’t always opt to offer a score because so much of redevelopment means starting anew without knowing about the old. Yet our members were unanimous in wanting to score this category because of the golf course around this site. And here’s the main legacy message from our members: this project skillfully integrates with, and preserves, the existing golf course. It includes good views of the course from the new building, and enables people to efficiently move between the housing building, the golf course, and the park. If we could offer one piece of feedback, it would be to encourage Demmon Partners to ensure the existing trees remain.