Santa Clara Condo Complex Evacuated
A condominium complex in Santa Clara was evacuated over the weekend due to unspecified safety concerns. Residents have been displaced, and officials have not yet released details on the cause or a timeline for their return.
The evacuated building, the 56-unit Villa Bella condominium complex at 1850 El Camino Real, has a history of issues. The site previously housed the Anantara Villas development, which suffered a significant fire during construction in 2019 before being rebranded. Residents began reporting problems less than a year after the first units were sold in May 2024. Complaints lodged in 2025 cited leaks, rusting metal structures, and an unresponsive developer, Legend SantaClara, LLC. The evacuation was triggered on the evening of February 28, 2026, after the Santa Clara Fire Department received reports of "displaced concrete." This led to the immediate evacuation of approximately 60 people from the building and residents of 10 nearby homes on Clay Street. In total, about 130 residents have been displaced. While most found their own arrangements, the city opened the Community Recreation Center on Kiely Boulevard as a temporary shelter. A team of structural engineers from the developer, the city, and the homeowners' association assessed the building. They determined there was no imminent danger of collapse, allowing residents of Clay Street to return home. However, the engineers found that the north side of the condominium building requires shoring before any residents can return. The developer is responsible for these repairs, but a timeline for reoccupation has not been established.
