Downtown San Jose office tower planned at old phone company site
Almaden Avenue building expected to be 20-story high-rise
SAN JOSE >> A development firm plans a new office tower in downtown San Jose on a choice site next to a long-time phone company building, according to city documents.
J.P. Dinapoli Cos., a successful and veteran developer, has filed a preliminary proposal for the development of an office high rise at 50 S. Almaden Blvd. in downtown San Jose, city planning files show.
“This is a great site,” said John DiNapoli, principal executive with DiNapoli Cos. “It’s close to the Diridon Station and close to the future
BART station. This is going to look great, it’s going to be the type of project San Jose really needs.”
San Jose-based DiNapoli Cos. in December 2019 bought portions of two parcels at the South Almaden
Boulevard property, which also fronts on Post Street and Almaden Avenue, according to county documents.
Acting through affiliate Sequoia Del Rey, Dinapoli Cos. paid $35.65 million in the December transaction, according to the public records. County documents show the seller was AT&T unit Pacific Bell. Steve Horton, a vice chairman with commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, arranged the transaction
Now, DiNapoli Cos. has submitted a preliminary proposal, crafted primarily to obtain feedback from city planners, for the development of an office tower.
The tower would be 20 stories high, including 15 levels of offices, one story of ground-floor amenity spaces, four floors of aboveground parking, and four levels of underground parking, the city planning documents show.
The early indications show that the office tower will likely include striking features.
“The building has outdoor
terraces on levels 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20,” the preliminary proposal from DiNapoli Cos. shows.
The project is tentatively named Almaden Boulevard Tower, the proposal shows.
“We have not yet completed the review for this project,” said Laura Meiners, a city planner and project manager.
Some preliminary issues have come to light, however, including downtown height limits associated with Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.
“The proposed height may be an issue with the FAA and it’s currently under-parked,” Meiners said.
Meiners pointed out that the current documents shouldn’t be considered a formal application. Once the developer receives feedback
from the city, then an actual application would be made.
However, plans for an office tower would be significant, because downtown experts had previously said it would also be possible to build a residential highrise at that site.
“DiNapoli has a proven track record of locating projects that get built,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy.
A burst of development proposals has sprouted — along with the start of major construction projects — in downtown San Jose.
To be sure, however, the coronavirus woes have cast a pall of uncertainty on the timing of the development endeavors. That’s because state and local government agencies have ordered that construction stop on commercial projects.
Google has proposed
Downtown West, a transit-oriented neighborhood of offices, homes, hotels, shops, restaurants, cultural hubs, and entertainment centers near the Diridon train station where the search giant could employ 25,000 people.
Adobe is well underway on the construction of a new office tower that would dramatically expand the tech titan’s downtown San Jose headquarters campus, which currently consists of three big office buildings.
Jay Paul Co., one of the Bay Area’s biggest and most active developers, has launched the construction of a striking new 19-story office tower at 200 Park Avenue that’s expected to be a dramatic addition to the downtown skyline.
Another major developer, Boston Properties, has begun to construct a tech campus at Autumn Parkway and West Julian Street that would total more than 1 million square feet and consist of three office buildings that will each feature several terraces.
For the South Almaden Avenue tower project, DiNapoli envisions the bottom floor as a way to help create a more lively part of downtown San Jose at that location.
“The ground floor will be activated by amenity spaces and tenant space,” DiNapoli Cos. stated in its submittal to the city.
DiNapoli, whose offices are located on the fifth floor of 99 S. Almaden Blvd. across the street from the proposed project location, said he’s quite familiar with the property.
“I’ve been working with my dad for 23 years and I’ve looked at this site for 23 years,” DiNapoli said. “This is a great location for an office building.”