Revamped plans sprout at key retail site in downtown San Jose

Developer decides Rail Yard Place hotel and homes are in, offices out

SAN JOSE » A hotel and houses would be built on a choice site in downtown San Jose, a fresh set of proposals on file with city officials shows.

A large hotel and new residences would be featured at Rail Yard Place, while plans for offices would be scrapped, according to the proposal from Bay Area developers Dennis Randall and John Pringle, who are partners with San Jose-based Acquity Realty.

The 10.6-acre Rail Yard Place is deemed to be a key site because it would be perched along State Route 87 and a gateway to downtown San Jose.

Under the latest proposal, a mixed-use development would be built that includes 270 residential units and a 265-room hotel, according to a set of preliminary documents on file with the city. The residential component would consist of 180 apartments for rent and 90 units of condominiums that would be for sale.

“We are exploring a new plan,” said Randall, president of Acquity Realty. Randall and Pringle lead a partnership called Insight Rail Yard, the owner of the property.

A previous proposal that was floated before city officials in June 2019 envisioned 150,000 square feet of office space and 500 residential units but no hotel facilities.

The Rail Yard Place property is located on the south side of Ryland Street between State Route 87 and the Guadalupe River and a short distance from the Diridon train station and the SAP Center.

“The market will tell you what wants to be where,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with San Jose-based Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy. “These changes are a siren call that offices don’t want to be in that location.”

A new office development at that site would have to compete against the Platform 16 tech campus that’s proposed on a big property across the Guadalupe River, the under-construction 200 Park office tower being developed by veteran real estate firm Jay Paul Co., the office campus being planned by a Gary Dillabough-led group for the Museum Place site on Park Avenue, and the huge Cityview office complex of multiple towers on Park Avenue, also being developed by Jay Paul.

Plus, Google plans a game-changing mixed-use complex of office buildings, hotel rooms, homes, shops, restaurants, cultural hubs and open spaces next to and near the train station.

And Adobe has launched construction on a striking new office tower that would dramatically expand its current threetower headquarters campus in downtown San Jose.

In contrast, only one other hotel tower is under active planning in downtown San Jose. A group that includes veteran developer Lew Wolff has gained approval to build a Moxy Hotel tower near the corner of West Santa Clara Street and North Almaden Boulevard.

“A hotel would be a lessintensive use at that site than would be office buildings,” Staedler said. “A hotel would have less of a traffic impact.”

One thing appears certain: Rail Yard Place would be a key section of the new downtown landscape.

“This is a great site,” Staedler said. “It’s very important for downtown San Jose.”

Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167.