Lucid Motors dealership site details begin to emerge
SAN JOSE >> Lucid Motors has filed a proposal for an electric vehicle dealership in downtown San Jose on a property where an office tower had once been planned, city public documents show.
The maker of electric vehicles is planning to develop the dealership at 250 Stockton Ave., near some large apartment complexes and around the corner from the footprint of Google's proposed transit-oriented village.
The existing building would be retained and not bulldozed, according to public documents on file with San Jose city planners.
“Lucid proposes to convert an existing light industrial building at the Property into an EV (electric vehicle) sales, service, and delivery center,” the automaker stated in the proposal. “Lucid would complete tenant improvements but would not be adding floor area or new improvements.”
The building totals 92,500 square feet, a marketing brochure circulated by commercial real estate firm Colliers states. The ground floor totals 47,500 square feet while the building's basement totals 45,000 square feet, the Colliers flyer states.
The conversion would occur primarily on the ground floor, according to the development proposal.
Newark-based Lucid declined to comment about its plans for the property.
In 2023, Lucid delivered 6,001 vehicles and produced 8,428 vehicles, the company reported on Jan. 11. In 2022, Lucid delivered 4,369 vehicles and produced 7,180 vehicles.
The company has seen fast-rising sales in recent years — but also suffered a loss of $2.65 billion over the 12 months that ended in September 2023, information posted on the Yahoo Finance site shows.
However, over those same 12 months ending in September, Lucid produced revenue of $695.8 million. That was a big increase from the calendar year 2022, when revenue totaled $608.2 million; 2021, when revenue was $27.1 million; and 2020, when revenue totaled just under $4 million, according to the Yahoo Finance site.
The emerging plans for an auto dealership at the site arrive at a time when the commercial real estate market is experiencing a dramatic upheaval.
At one point, a 910,000-square-foot, 15-story office tower was proposed for the location by the owner of the site, Imwalle Properties.
However, speculative office buildings now have murky prospects as tech companies have curbed hiring or launched layoffs, prompting firms to slash their workplace footprints.
The meltdown of the office sector in the Bay Area has been compounded by wobbly capital markets for the construction and financing of commercial properties.
As a result, property owners are attempting to identify ways they can reposition their properties and use the existing sites rather than attempt to develop a new office building.
This could be the case with the 250 Stockton site.
Lucid has proposed three major activities within the building and the adjacent parking area, the planning documents show:
• New and used vehicle display, sales, leasing and trade-ins
• Vehicle delivery to customers
• Vehicle service and repairs
It wasn't immediately clear how soon Lucid Motors might be able to open a dealership at the site.
A page on the Lucid Motors website indicates the vehicle maker currently has four dealership sites, which the company calls studios. The current locations are in San Jose at Westfield Valley Fair, Newark at the company's headquarters, Corte Madera and Millbrae.
“The building (at 250 Stockton in downtown San Jose) would include an indoor retail sales area to display and market Lucid's new and used vehicles,” the planning documents state. “Customers would be able to browse and speak with Lucid sales associates and place orders. Vehicle test drives would also be offered.”