The Rise in View: Parks and Open Space

In celebration of National Parks & Recreation Month, I’d like to share an update on one of the defining features of The Rise: its parks, open spaces, and pedestrian network.

As the project advances toward vertical construction, we continue refining these public spaces in collaboration with the City. Built upon years of community input, the park system is designed as welcoming public spaces – not only for future residents of The Rise, but for the entire Cupertino community. Supporting recreation, wellness, community gathering, and active transportation, these parks and pedestrian connections will help link surrounding neighborhoods to shopping, recreation, and the City’s growing bicycle and pedestrian network.

We were especially encouraged by the strong support our conceptual park plan recently received from Cupertino’s Parks and Recreation Commission. Commissioners expressed strong support for the overall vision while offering thoughtful recommendations to further strengthen the design. We appreciate their partnership and look forward to continuing to refine these spaces as design progresses.

Nearly Eight Acres of New Public Parks

The Rise will provide nearly eight acres of publicly accessible, at-grade parks and open space – effectively doubling Cupertino’s existing small parks acreage – with more than half planned for delivery during the project’s first phase.

From lively town squares and recreation areas to quiet gardens and pedestrian paseos, the park system is designed to offer a wide variety of experiences for people of all ages. Whether attending a community event, enjoying the turfed playfield, relaxing in a garden, exploring public art, or spending an afternoon at the splash pad and inclusive playground, visitors will find places designed for gathering, recreation, relaxation, and everyday life. Native, climate-adapted landscapes and pedestrian pathways will tie these spaces together and connect directly to the new Class I bicycle and pedestrian path that will surround the property.

Together, these parks, streets, plazas, and pedestrian connections will create the public realm that becomes the heart of a new neighborhood while serving the broader Cupertino community.

These parks are not simply amenities for a development – they are lasting public investments that will serve Cupertino for generations.

Inspirational concepts for The Rise

Project Update

While we continue refining these public spaces, we are also making important progress toward bringing that vision to life.

Major horizontal infrastructure work for the Town Square West phase is substantially complete, with street paving scheduled to begin in August. Today, the City Council will consider approval of the project’s final map – one of the final approvals needed before vertical construction can begin. With this approval, we remain on schedule to commence construction of the project’s first residential building by the end of this year, marking an important milestone after more than a decade of planning, collaboration, and construction. As promised, those first homes will all be affordable to lower-income households.

In truth, The Rise has always been about more than new homes. It is about creating a neighborhood where people gather, play, celebrate, and connect. With infrastructure nearing completion, parks taking shape, and vertical construction on the horizon, that vision is becoming reality.

Thank you, as always, for your continued interest and support. We look forward to sharing additional milestones as The Rise continues to take shape.