Asian investors snap up large north San Jose Toshiba campus
Japanese firm will continue to lease 3-building complex
SAN JOSE » A big office complex in north San Jose that’s leased to Toshiba has been bought by investors in Los Angeles led by a Hong Kong-based capital management group, a deal that suggests well-heeled buyers still hunger for Silicon Valley real estate.
GC Orchard Trimble paid $93.5 million on June 14 for a roughly 200,000-squarefoot campus of three buildings at the corner of West Trimble Road and Orchard Parkway, according to
Santa Clara County property filings.
“This is totally related to investors seeking cash flow as a result of the buildings being all leased to Toshiba,” said Erik Hallgrimson, an executive managing director with Cushman & Wakefield,
a commercial realty brokerage.
Toshiba agreed to the lease in 2016, according to Hallgrimson, who helped to arrange the Toshiba deal at the time.
“Investors are trying to find big buildings with good cash flow that they can purchase,” Hallgrimson said.
The buildings have addresses of 55 W. Trimble Road, 2610 Orchard Parkway and 2630 Ochard Parkway.
The buyer, GC Orchard
Trimble, is affiliated with a Los Angeles address and suite number that is the Southern California office of Gaw Capital Management and Downtown Properties, according to Santa Clara County public records. Gaw Capital was cofounded by siblings Goodwin Gaw and Kenneth Gaw, while Downtown Properties was founded by Goodwin Gaw, the company’s website shows. Gaw Capital is based in Hong Kong, the company’s online site states. The buyer obtained a $62 million loan from Deutsche Bank.
Investors from Asia have been active in north San Jose and other parts of Silicon Valley in recent years.
In September 2017, Korea Post, which operates
South Korea’s postal system, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System paid $610 million for a 941,000-square-foor complex at 3000 through 3200 Tannery Way in Santa Clara.
That same month, Best Fang Holdings paid $58.5 million for The Campus at First office complex at at 3060 N. First St. and 3080 N. 1st St. Those buildings were empty at the time of the purchase.
In October 2017, Han’s Holdings paid $27 million for offices at 680 W. Maude Ave. in Sunnyvale that are occupied by Corning.
Han’s Holdings paid $48.5 million in August 2017 for a 118,000-square-foot office complex at 2300 Orchard Parkway that’s leased to San Jose-based Cavium. Cavium has signed a 10-year lease to occupy the building, Securities and Exchange documents show.
Using an affiliate called Han’s Hospitality at 300 San Jose, the China-based investment group paid $87.3 million in April 2017 for the Hilton Hotel at 300 S. Almaden Blvd. in downtown San Jose.
In March, Han’s San Jose Hospitality paid $36.2 million for an office complex at 3553 N. 1st St. that totals 85,000 square feet. Struggling China-based tech firm LeEco once occupied the building.
A Korean resorts operator, Aju Hotels and Resorts, paid $64 million in June for the iconic Westin San Jose — more commonly known as the Sainte Claire hotel — in downtown San Jose.
Prestige Cascade, an affiliate of Singapore-based Shanda Asset Management Holdings, paid $20 million in 2017 for a big office complex totaling 416,000 square feet at 3403 Yerba Buena Road in south San Jose, public records show.
On June 8, KT North First, an affiliate of South Koreabased Hana Asset Management and Southern California-based Ocean West Capital Partners, paid $132.5 million for a 250,000-squarefoot office campus that contains four buildings and is located on North First Street near Component Drive. All the buildings are leased to eBay.
In the recent deal involving the Toshiba-leased campus, an on-site review of the property during June indicated Toshiba occupied two of the buildings but wasn’t in the 2630 Orchard Parkway site.
“The big attraction here is that this is a long-term lease to a quality tenant with a worldwide brand,” Hallgrimson said.