SAN JOSE >> A mixed-use project that once was poised to bring significant changes to a San Jose site may undergo a new course correction with the addition of an auto dealership as economic trends shift.

The Stevens Creek Promenade project, a few blocks from the Westfield Valley Fair commercial hub and Santana Row, is undergoing a rethinking.

When first proposed a few years ago, the mixed-use development at 4300 Stevens Creek Blvd. was envisioned as a hub for offices, apartments, shops, restaurants and a hotel.

Current economic conditions, however, prompted the project’s developers to scrap the office component and add affordable housing. The hotel remained in the plan.

Two real estate firms, Miramar Capital Group and Machine Investment, acting through affiliate MPG Stevens Creek Owner, are developing the property in which they own.

The new proposal includes a preliminary review request to determine if it’s feasible to construct a new-car dealership on 3.8 acres that are part of the development site. The project would also move ahead with a previously approved apartment complex with 173 affordable residential units and another component consisting of 191 market-rate units.

A shift in the project comes as office vacancy rates have soared to record-high levels and are particularly brutal in San Francisco, whose spaces are well over one-third empty. Downtown San Jose and Oakland also are contending with vacancies.

Loan delinquencies and foreclosures have haunted numerous Bay Area office buildings, further worsening the health of the sector.