SAN JOSE — A development site in San Jose where a massive tech and office campus is proposed has been put up for sale, raising uncertainties about the future of a property in a choice downtown location.
The downtown San Jose project site is currently approved for the development of a huge office hub that, if built, would total 1.6 million square feet, according to documents on file with city planners.
Downtown San Jose development site at 447 South Almaden Boulevard, shown within the outline. Boundaries are approximate. State Route 87 is visible on the left side of the image. (Google Maps)
The development site is located at 447 South Almaden Boulevard next to Woz Way on a property that’s near State Route 87 and the Children’s Discovery Museum and across the street from the San Jose Convention Center.
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BXP, once known as Boston Properties, had proposed the downtown San Jose development at the height of the tech boom of recent years.
Tech companies were in a fevered rush to expand from 2012 through 2019, buying and leasing countless sites in the South Bay.
Then came 2020 and the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, which was accompanied by catastrophic economic maladies.
The deadly bug spawned economic ailments that throttled the tech industry’s appetite to expand, leaving existing office buildings empty and causing office projects to languish.
BXP never broke ground on its huge office project, which would have sprouted along the banks of the Guadalupe River and Discovery Meadow across the street from the San Jose Convention Center.
Newmark, a commercial real estate firm, is seeking a buyer for the property, according to a marketing brochure obtained by this news organization. Newmark executives Steven Golubchik, Edmund Najera and Ramsay Daya are leading the marketing efforts.
While approved for a huge office project, the Newmark team also notes in the marketing materials that the overall zoning allows for considerable flexibility should a new owner seek a different sort of project.
Residential, commercial, or mixed-use projects are possible on the site, according to the marketing materials, since the umbrella zoning designation is “Downtown Primary Commercial.”
At present, the property is being used as a surface parking lot with 426 stalls. The city of San Jose is leasing the property through the end of June 2027.
“447 South Almaden Boulevard offers investors a rare opportunity to acquire a 3.7-acre development site with near-term cash flow and long-term redevelopment optionality in one of the Bay Area’s most dynamic urban markets,” the Newmark sales brochure states.