SAN JOSE — A tech company that’s a high-profile player in “electronic ink” display technologies has bought a San Jose office building in a deal that gives the firm a large space for its operations.
E Ink Corp. has bought an office building at 3200 North First Street in San Jose, a deal that came about through a receiver-supervised sales effort that was ordered by a Santa Clara County Superior Court.
The new owner paid $22.7 million for the office building, according to documents filed on June 30 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
The deal clears the way for E Ink to become an owner and user of the empty building.
E Ink is one of the leaders in a printing technology that enables electronic displays to look like printed paper. The technologies are often used in e-books and in electronic signs that can be edited with a few keystrokes.
A group of MIT undergraduates and MIT professors co-founded E Ink in 1997. A Taiwan-based company now owns E Ink, which is based in Massachusetts.
The north San Jose office building was placed in a receivership after the prior owner of the building, an affiliate of a San Francisco-based business entity, defaulted on a $19.8 million loan that Wells Fargo Bank provided to finance the property. The affiliate’s general manager is listed as Dennis J. Wong, state business records show.
At one point, Nio USA, a unit of China-based electric vehicle maker Nio, had leased the entire two-story office building, which totals 85,000 square feet, according to Santa Clara County Court records.
In 2019, however, Nio USA began to slash jobs at its office site. Nio USA told state labor officials of its decision to eliminate 200 jobs in San Jose.
By September 2023, Nio USA had exited the 3200 North First building once its lease term expired. In October 2023, the owner of the building began to miss payments on the mortgage.
The lender’s trustee filed a lawsuit in July 2024 that asked a Santa Clara County judge to appoint a receiver to take control of the empty office building.
The receiver hired Colliers, a commercial real estate firm, to market the building for sale and to scout for potential buyers, court records show. Colliers executives Andy Zighelboim, Kevin Moul and Tom Olson led the successful sales effort.
“In total, we received five unique offers for the property,” the court-ordered receiver, Douglas Wilson, stated in a filing on June 2.
E Ink made an offer on the building, which led to an auction of the property. E-Ink eventually won the auction after the price was bid up for the property. Colliers broker Paul McManus represented E-Ink in the transaction.
The auction ended after E Ink agreed to pay $22.7 million for the office building.
“The purchase price is not only fair but also represents the highest purchase price for the property, in light of current market conditions,” the receiver stated in a court filing.
Sky-high vacancies, feeble rental rates and delinquent loans currently haunt the Bay Area office market.
E Ink Corp. is a “potential owner-user” of the office building, the court files state. This news organization reached out to an E Ink public relations representative to seek a comment about the situation.