Commercial Real Estate in Cupertino: Heart of the City, CG Zoning and the Vallco Area

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Most of Cupertino’s commercial property lines Stevens Creek Boulevard and De Anza Boulevard: neighborhood shopping centers, offices, restaurants and hotels, with the Vallco shopping district at the east end near Interstate 280 and Monta Vista’s small commercial village to the west. Stevens Creek runs under the Heart of the City Specific Plan, and much of the corridor is zoned Planned Development tied to General Commercial rules. Confirm the zoning and any specific plan for each parcel with the City of Cupertino Planning Division before relying on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Cupertino is an incorporated city, so Title 19 of the Cupertino Municipal Code controls land use inside city limits. Commercial corridors are frequently zoned P, the Planned Development district in Chapter 19.80, with the base district shown in parentheses on the zoning map, such as P(CG) for general commercial or P(CG, Res) for a commercial and residential mix. That label matters: uses generally follow the named district unless a conceptual plan or specific plan narrows them. The city’s land use plans page lists the specific, master and conceptual plans layered on top. A few unincorporated County pockets touch the city’s edges; for those, see our Santa Clara County commercial guide.

Cupertino zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

The office and industrial chapters were listed in the code index but not reviewed in detail for this page, so confirm specific use permissions with Planning.

Stevens Creek Boulevard and the Heart of the City Specific Plan

The Heart of the City Specific Plan covers roughly 635 acres along Stevens Creek Boulevard. Its current version was enacted by the City Council on December 4, 2014 under Ordinance CC 14-213, which adopted new land use and zoning maps.

• Four subareas. West Stevens Creek (Route 85 to Stelling Road), Crossroads (Stelling to De Anza Boulevard), Central (De Anza to Portal Avenue) and East (Portal Avenue to the city limit).
• Office limits. Office-type uses are capped at 25% of a building’s street frontage and/or 50% of the building rear, so ground floors on the boulevard lean toward retail and restaurants.
• Setbacks and easement. New buildings sit 35 feet back from the curb, and new projects dedicate a 26-foot Boulevard Landscape Easement made up of a 10-foot planting strip, a 6-foot sidewalk and another 10-foot planting strip.
• Height. 45 feet unless the General Plan sets another limit, with General Plan building planes shaping bulk near neighborhoods.
• Open space and signs. Commercial buildings of 20,000 square feet or more, and restaurants of 10,000 or more, provide common open space equal to 2.5% of floor area. Wall signs are limited to 1.5 square feet per foot of tenant frontage.
• Mixed use. Mixed-use projects need a substantial, viable retail component, with housing preferred behind or above the storefronts.

General Commercial rules that shape leasing

Chapter 19.60 is unusually specific about tenant mix, which matters for shopping center owners.

• Offices. Permitted, but capped at 25% of a shopping center’s building space.
• Gyms and schools. Fitness clubs, dance studios and vocational schools are permitted only while they stay under half of a center’s space.
• Retail primacy. Retail or service must be at least half of a business’s floor area and its main emphasis.
• Planning Commission permits. Hotels, drive-throughs, liquor stores, bars, gas stations, car washes and child care centers need a Planning Commission use permit.
• Late hours. Activity between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. needs an administrative use permit.
• Excluded. Warehouses and wholesale businesses are excluded, with an exception for computer and communications firms that mainly serve other businesses.
• Neighbors. Next to homes, rear setbacks are 20 feet or 1.5 feet per foot of height, and masonry sound walls at least 8 feet high are required.

The Vallco area, Monta Vista and lodging

Vallco. The city’s plans page lists a South Vallco Master Plan covering about 125 acres and a North Vallco Master Plan covering 240 acres between Homestead Road, Tantau Avenue, I-280 and Wolfe Road. The North Vallco plan is marked as guidance only, never adopted by the Council. A South Vallco Connectivity Plan is described as informing a future Vallco Shopping District specific or master plan. The former mall site has had several redevelopment proposals over the years; confirm the entitlements that currently apply to any Vallco parcel directly with the city.

De Anza Boulevard. North and South De Anza Boulevard conceptual plans guide streetscape between I-280 and Bollinger Road, and a separate conceptual zoning plan covers De Anza south of Highway 85.

Lodging and home businesses. Hotels are conditional in CG and pay the transient occupancy tax under Chapter 3.12. Residential short-term rentals are limited by Chapter 5.08 to registered primary residences, with unhosted stays capped at 60 nights a year. Cannabis uses fall under a separate marijuana chapter, 19.98.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

Cupertino levies its own documentary stamp tax under Chapter 3.04, adopted by Ordinance 377 in 1967: 27.5 cents per $500 of value on deeds for property sold in the city, excluding liens that remain on the property. The chapter is adopted under the state’s Documentary Transfer Tax Act and says the County Recorder administers it alongside County Ordinance NS-215. The County Ordinance Code Div. A30, Ch. III sets the County tax at $0.55 per $500 and, in §A30-40, credits a conforming city tax set at half that rate, so the city’s 27.5 cents is shared within the County’s $0.55 rather than added; confirm the total on the escrow estimate. A sale generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment. Cupertino requires a city business license; we did not verify business tax rates.

Due diligence that matters in Cupertino

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Read the full zoning label; P(CG, Res) and P(CG, R-4) sites play by different rules.
• For Stevens Creek parcels, check the Heart of the City subarea, the 35-foot curb setback and the 26-foot easement before planning additions.
• Model the tenant mix against the 25% office cap and the 50% retail floor-space rule.
• Confirm whether a planned use needs an administrative or Planning Commission use permit.
• For Vallco-area parcels, ask which master plan, specific plan or project approval governs.
• Add the city documentary tax line to the closing statement.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Cupertino Title 19, Zoning (GoCodebook)
2. Chapter 19.60, General Commercial zones
3. Chapter 19.80, Planned Development zones
4. City of Cupertino, Land Use Plans
5. Heart of the City Specific Plan (PDF)
6. Chapter 5.08, Short-Term Rental Activity
7. Chapter 3.04, Documentary Stamp Tax
8. Santa Clara County Ordinance Code, Division A30, Chapter III, Real Property Transfer Tax

Note: We did not review Chapters 19.64, 19.68 or 19.72 in detail, the Monta Vista design guidelines, current Vallco project approvals or business license rates.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.

Related: Cupertino real estate guide · Multifamily property in Cupertino · Commercial real estate services