After years of coalition advocacy, the Sunnyvale City Council unanimously adopted the Moffett Park Specific Plan and Environmental Impact Report on July 11, 2023, and is now in effect across the City.
Greenbelt Alliance is thrilled with this huge win for our region because the plan supports the redevelopment of a current industrial area into climate resilient, transit-oriented, mixed-use housing that promotes infill as a strategy to reduce sprawl and improve affordability, while using nature as a climate adaptation strategy.
In Fall 2020, Greenbelt Alliance joined a coalition of organizations, including Livable Sunnyvale, Bay Area Council, SV@Home, the Bay Area Housing Action Coalition, SPUR, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group to endorse the Sunnyvale Moffett Park redevelopment during the background research and outreach phase that lasted through Spring 2021. In 2022, Greenbelt Alliance led a series of outings to share our vision of a place that can offer solutions to the affordable housing crisis while fostering a climate-resilient future, sponsored by Google and Lendlease.
We’re excited to finally see the realization of this project as a model for Climate SMART development.
What Is The Moffett Park Specific Plan?
Located in the northernmost part of the City of Sunnyvale, the 1,275-acre Moffett Park redevelopment proposes an ecological innovation district, which, according to the adopted plan, “combines the tenets of sustainable, ecological, and resilient practices with a leading-edge, technologically driven cluster of businesses”. Moffett Park will promote biodiversity in landscapes, a holistic approach to sustainability, and public health benefits for the community. The urban ecology plan will allow for wildlife movement, reduced heat island effects, and opportunities to manage climate change and sea level rise challenges.
To increase climate resilience, the development will include green infrastructure to reduce runoff pollutants and strategies for stormwater retention. It will also invest in urban tree canopy to reduce urban heat island effects, which will double as a carbon sequestration strategy. These approaches for ecological value and resilience will not only protect habitats and wildlife but enhance the ecological resources by providing public outdoor spaces.
Economic Opportunity, Dynamic Community
The Moffett Park redevelopment will include anchor institutions, start-ups, office space, and mixed-use housing to build an innovation district, spanning six different neighborhoods with a total of 32 million square feet of office space, 16,000-20,000 homes—15% of which will be affordable at various income levels—, and 226 acres of open space.The combination of job centers, affordable housing, and amenities through mixed-use development will reduce travel distances for residents to 15-minutes or less walking or biking, while promoting sustainable transit-oriented development and complete streets to promote safe cycling. These environmentally-friendly strategies will reduce emissions, water and electricity usage, and divert waste from landfills.
Greenbelt Alliance remains excited to see his project become a reality, as the future of this development will lead to a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient Bay Area. Read more about the plan.
