Chinese tech group buys north San Jose building

SAN JOSE » A technology venture backed by a city in eastern China has bought a big office building in north San Jose, a deal that has emerged amid the company’s plans to establish an innovation center in Silicon Valley.

Hangzhou Silicon Valley Innovation Center bought the twostory building, which is near the corner of East Tasman Drive and Baypointe Parkway, for $41.5 million in cash this week, Santa Clara County property records show.

The innovation center venture is a unit of Hangzhou Overseas Center, according to papers filed in April with the California Secretary of State. The chief executive officer of the operation is listed as Chenpeng Yao, according to the filing.

The 111,000-square-foot office building is at 160 E. Tasman Drive in San Jose, a site that’s perched on a light rail line and is located a short distance from

Levi Stadium.

The innovation center will be jointly built by Hangzhou’s Science and Technology Commission and the management committee of the Hangzhou Economic Development Zone, according to a statement from the venture.

Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang Province in eastern China. It’s also the headquarters city for Alibaba, a Chinabased e-commerce behemoth.

The Silicon Valley Innovation Center’s principal operations will include an incubator for “high-caliber talent and projects,” according to the release.

The center also will include an intellectual property operation

to serve global research teams and a financial center, the Zhejiang Province announcement said.

Executives with the Hangzhou venture in Silicon Valley couldn’t be reached for comment.

The innovation center is expected to play a key role promoting Hangzhou and to give companies located in the Chinese city a greater global reach, according to the announcement. The venture also could foster closer ties between the Bay Area’s tech hub in San Jose and the Chinese metropolis.

“The innovation center will spur more cooperative projects between Silicon Valley and Hangzhou,” the Zhejiang Province release stated.

These kinds of investments make sense for China-based enterprises, both from a realty investment and technology

standpoint, a local property expert said.

“It’s easier to innovate in Silicon Valley than it is in China or other parts of Asia,” said Dave Sandlin, a senior vice president and principal executive with Colliers International, a commercial realty brokerage. “Investors from Asia can tap the talent pool here.”

Plus, with a boom in property values underway, a Chinese venture could realize healthy gains in value through the purchase of office buildings in the Bay Area.

“It’s safe money for these investors from China,” Sandlin said. “The U.S. economy is a bellwether for the world, and the money is a lot safer in Silicon Valley than it would be in mainland China.”