Museum Place complex pushes on
Realty entrepreneur plans fresh approach to important downtown San Jose development
SAN JOSE >> A new vision has emerged for a crucial downtown San Jose development known as Museum Place that would add offices and retail next to The Tech Museum of Innovation, according to city documents being reviewed this week.
Some details about the new Museum Place approach were contained in San Jose city staff reports regarding an agreement to bring aboard a group led by realty entrepreneur Gary Dillabough. The Dillabough group will provide fresh capital and investments to get the project moving forward. This news organization had reported previously about Dillabough’s planned involvement in the Museum Place development on Park Avenue.
“The developer has a formidable vision for San Jose’s future,” according to a memo prepared by Kim Walesh, San Jose’s economic development director. “Mr. Dillabough has indicated a strong desire to make the Museum Place project a standout location that the City of San Jose can look to with pride.”
In August 2017, city officials approved a development agreement with a group called Insight King Wah. Initially, China New Era Group, a China-based business conglomerate, had agreed to be the lead investor, providing all the financing necessary to develop the site. However, earlier this year, it became clear that China New Era
wasn’t going to provide the anticipated financing and investments.
The staff memo indicated that a Dillaboughled group called Museum Place Owner had reached an agreement to buy out the development agreement that Insight King Wah had owned. The city is involved because it owns the land where the development would occur at the existing Parkside Hall on Park Avenue next to The Tech.
“Mr. Dillabough and his partners have recently purchased several key buildings in downtown, including the Bank of Italy building and the Fountain Alley Parking lot, investing over $100 million in Downtown San Jose,” the city staff memo stated.
At one point, Museum Place was envisioned as a combination of hotel, residential, offices and the expansion of The Tech. Some of those elements appear likely to be shelved under the new Dillabough plan.
The new proposal seems likely to parlay the future dramatic upgrades being planned at the Diridon transit station. The Diridon facility already is a hub for light rail, Amtrak, the Capitol Corridor line, Catrain and the ACE
Train, and in the future is poised to become a BART station and high-speed rail stop.
Plus, Google is planning a far-reaching transit-oriented village of offices, restaurants, retail, residences, open spaces and other amenities in the Diridon Station area. And Adobe Systems intends to dramatically expand its existing three-tower headquarters campus by adding a fourth office high rise in downtown San Jose.
“The developer (Gary Dillabough) recognizes that downtown San Jose has a limited supply of Class A office in a prime location close to Diridon
Station,” Walesh wrote in the city memo. “As a result, the developer has indicated an intention to focus on office, retail and the Tech Museum expansion space, likely reducing or eliminating the residential and hotel components of the project.”
A much larger Tech Museum would give Museum Place unique characteristics, the memo stated.
“Mr. Dillabough understands that the cornerstone to the Museum Place project is the substantial expansion to the Tech Museum of Innovation,” Walesh wrote. “Mr. Dillabough views the Tech expansion as a key element of the program that sets the project apart from any other new development in the South Bay.”
In an early May interview with this news organization, Dillabough outlined his belief that the Museum Place project has plenty of potential.
“You want to find ways to revitalize that whole theater district, which is such a cool location,” Dillabough said. “Museum Place could energize that area and create some momentum there.”
The offices in the Museum Place project also would be ideal for a technology company, Dillabough said.
“It could be the best location in Silicon Valley for a tech firm,” Dillabough said.