Former San Jose City Hall Project

Project Overview:

The Project proposes demolition of the former San Jose City Hall building (former City Hall). The facility is a five-story, approximately 113,430-square-foot office building, at 801 North First Street in San Jose, on the northwest corner of North First Street and West Mission Street.

Demolition activities would include the following:

Abatement of hazardous building materials;
Site control and preparation for demolition;
Demolition of the building and disposal of demolition debris; and
Regrading and hydroseeding the site.

The building is currently vacant and is not in a usable condition, with ongoing maintenance and security costs borne by the County. No future use has been identified or proposed for the site following demolition of the building.

For your review:

A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the proposed project has been prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for your review. The Project (State Clearinghouse No. 2020060451) would result in potentially significant environmental impacts in relation to:

air quality,
biological resources,
cultural resources (including historical resources),
noise,
and tribal cultural resources, as discussed further below.

All these impacts could be mitigated to a less than significant level except for the significant effect on historical resources because the Project would result in the demolition of the former City Hall, which is a historically significant resource. The project site is not listed as a hazardous waste site.

Your comments regarding the significant environmental effects of this project and the adequacy of the Draft EIR are welcome. The 45-day public review period begins on Friday September 25, 2020 and ends at 5:00 p.m. on Monday November 9, 2020.

Please send written comments by Monday, November 9, 2020 to:
County of Santa Clara Facilities and Fleet Department
Attention: Emily Chen
2310 North First Street, Suite 200
San Jose, CA 95131
E-mail: [email protected]

A hard copy of the Draft EIR is also available for public review during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) at:

County of Santa Clara, Office of the County Clerk-Recorder Lobby
(*Note: The document is located on the table next to the security officer station.)
70 West Hedding Street, East Wing, 1st Floor,
San José, CA 95110

Past Meetings:

Virtual Public Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) Meeting.

During the public review period, a public information meeting for the DEIR was held to describe the proposed project, review the DEIR, and obtain your verbal input on the adequacy of the DEIR. Although we are not able to gather, a link to access the meeting can be found below.

Date and Time: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 6:30pm

Historical Heritage Commission Meeting

This project was on the agenda for discussion by the Historical Hertitage Commission.

Date and Time: Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 6:30p.m.

Project Timeline:

On May 5, 2020, the Board of Supervisors received the report that assessed the feasibility of reusing the former San Jose City Hall facility and directed the County Administration to prepare an environmental analysis of removing the Former City Hall for the Board of Supervisors’ future consideration.

On June 22, 2020, the County posted the Notice of Preparation for a 30-day public review period.

On July 7, 2020, the County held a Public Scoping Meeting regarding the environmental impact report to describe the proposed project and the environmental review process and to obtain verbal input on the EIR analysis for the proposal.

On September 25, 2020, the County posted the Draft Environmental Impact Report for a 45-day public review period.

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