SANTA CLARA — A mixed-use village of shops, apartments and plazas is being proposed for an office and commercial complex in Santa Clara, an attempt to bring to one of Silicon Valley’s tech hubs a complete community where people can live, work, play and shop.

The $2 billion center, Santa Clara Square, has already landed telecommunications giant Ericsson and retail leader Whole Foods as its first major tenants. Now, property builder Irvine Co. intends to expand the project with residential units and more retail as part of a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly complex.

“We are going into one of Silicon Valley’s most important and successful business districts and will be creating housing and retail amenities within an extremely short drive, within walking and biking distance,” said Dan Young, president of Irvine Community Development. “This will be a self-contained, master-planned community right in the middle of Silicon Valley.”

Santa Clara’s mayor said he likes the concept of the proposed expansion.

“We’re very excited about this village style of development, which will let people live, work, play shop, all in one community,” Mayor Jamie Matthews said. “It’s the type of development we have talked about in Silicon Valley frequently, but we rarely have been able to build it here because of the amount of land needed.”

For nearly all of the last three years, Santa Clara County has created jobs at a faster pace than any other major urban center in the country. Yet that robust job growth also has produced daily commutes that have become more brutal as nearby roads get clogged with cars.

Santa Clara Square is seen by its developers as a way to ease those woes, at least in that part of Silicon Valley.

“World class companies are locating in Silicon Valley, so we want to deliver high quality retail and residential in proximity to that,” Young said. “We hope to address the practical effects of all that growth on the quality of life, such as lost time due to traffic.”

High-profile tech companies located nearby in Santa Clara include Intel, Broadcom, Netflix, Applied Materials, Violin Semiconductors and Vishay Siliconix, said Michael Lyster, an Irvine spokesman.

Irvine has submitted an application to Santa Clara city officials for the expansion of the project. The developer aims to build 2,000 luxury apartments along with a town center and central plaza for gatherings and events. The expansion of the project also will include 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail that will consist of shops and restaurants, as well as a fitness or health center.

“The city process will take approximately a year to get ready for planning commission and City Council hearings,” said Carlene Matchniff, a vice president with Irvine.

All told, the development will eventually have 1.8 million square feet of offices, and 165,000 square feet of retail. That includes more than 600,000 square feet of offices now under construction, 125,000 square feet of specialty retail now being built, and the 40,000 square feet of retail in a Main Street style that will be one of the focal points of the village.

Plenty of construction is being planned in projects that will further reshape the north Santa Clara area. The Centennial Gateway project would create 780,000 square feet of retail, hotel, restaurant and office development on 8.4 acres near Levi’s Stadium. And City Place Santa Clara would create 5.2 million square feet of retail, restaurant, hotel, office and residential development in four phases on 215 acres.

Last May, Ericsson leased 410,000 square feet, or two entire buildings, in the first phase of office development of Santa Clara Square. The telecommunications giant intends to move about 2,000 workers to the project in phases, with the first group expected to be in the new offices by the end of this year.

Ericsson also has an option, which hasn’t been exercised yet, to occupy another 200,000 square feet in a third building.

Whole Foods in November leased 50,000 square feet in a deal that made the healthy and organic foods retailer the anchor tenant for the specialty retail. Whole Foods should move into its anchor space sometime in 2016.

“The concept of this complete community intrigued Whole Foods, and it was a factor in their decision to lease here,” Lyster said.

Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167. Follow him at Twitter.com/georgeavalos.