Hundreds of homes eyed near downtown
Developers see potential for residential housing near San Jose’s Diridon station
SAN JOSE >> Property owners want to replace office buildings and industrial yards with more than 450 new homes that would rise a few blocks from a big transit village Google has proposed in downtown San Jose.
All told, developers of a nearly fouracre site near the corner of McEvoy and Dupont streets — just south of the Diridon train station and Park Avenue on the edges of downtown — intend to develop 458 residences, according to planning documents the property owners have submitted to San Jose city officials.
“This makes total sense,” said Mark Ritchie, president of San Jose-based Ritchie Commercial, a realty brokerage. “In addition to offices, restaurants and retail, you also need to have residential near transit.”
About two blocks from this development, Google and Trammell Crow are together working on a transit-oriented community of offices and other amenities that would be built near Diridon Station.
Transit is a magnet for these kinds of
developments in downtown San Jose because Diridon Station at present is a nexus for light rail, buses, Amtrak, Caltrain and the ACE Train. Within the next several years, BART connections and high-speed rail lines are expected to connect downtown San Jose to the rest of the Bay Area and even the Central Valley or Los Angeles.
Mountain View-based Google is eyeing 6 million to 8 million square feet of offices, which together could accommodate 15,000 to 20,000 Google workers in
the transit-oriented development, primarily on or near Autumn and Montgomery streets in downtown San Jose.
“We are exiting the era of the automobile and entering the era of mass transit and the self-driving vehicle,” Ritchie said. “These kinds of developments near the transit hub in downtown San Jose reminds us of that.”
The properties that would be developed near the corner of McEvoy and Dupont streets are owned by an entity connected with San Jose resident Roger Moore. Property records show that Moore began buying these parcels roughly a decade ago, over a period of some
years. Moore didn’t respond to a request for a comment.
“This sort of development has been contemplated in this area for some time,” said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association.
The timing of the project wasn’t immediately known. The proposal is in its preliminary stages with the San Jose planning agency.
Thousands of homes are being proposed, or already are being built, in and next to downtown San Jose. And even more housing is being planned at rail stops a short distance from the downtown, such as the Berryessa BART station. A 10-story residential and retail tower has been proposed next to a light rail station on Southwest Expressway, a few stops from Diridon Station.
“It’s not just what’s happening on the west side of downtown San Jose, it’s more than the daisy chain of properties along the rail tracks,” Knies said. “It’s hotel investments, office-building purchases, older buildings that are being renovated.”
Knies expects the interest to only intensify due to Google’s investments and development efforts in downtown San Jose.
“The momentum shows no sign of slowing,” Knies said.