Proposed downtown S.J. office complex would tower above SAP Center
Project is one of first to take advantage of city’s new height limit rules
SAN JOSE >> A veteran developer is eyeing an office tower near downtown San Jose’s future Google transit village, saying the proposed high-rise project has gotten a lift from taller height limits in the urban core of the Bay Area’s largest city.
The office tower would rise 210 feet — roughly double the height of the SAP Center, the tallest building in that section of downtown San Jose — according to a preliminary proposal that the project leaders have floated at City Hall.
“The increased height limits definitely play a factor in looking at this project,” said Don Imwalle, a veteran developer who is president of Campbell-based Imwalle Properties. “It’s also about the transit connections and amenities nearby.”
This project is one of the first proposed since the San Jose City Council approved in March changes in height limit rules to allow for taller buildings downtown.
The office complex site, located at 250 Stockton Ave. near Julian Street, is a short distance from the Diridon train station, across the street from a new and busy Whole Foods market, and within blocks of an array of restaurant, retail and nightlife options on West Santa Clara Street and The Alameda.
“This is a very preliminary application,” Imwalle said. “We have just started the process to explore what could be done with this site.”
The proposed tower would total roughly 700,000 square feet
under the preliminary proposal, according to city planning documents.
That would be enough space for 3,500 workers, based on typical ratios to calculate square feet per employee.
The site is occupied by an older office building totaling 43,000 square feet. The project wouldn’t be developed right away, Imwalle said, because a tenant has signed a six-year lease for the property.
Interest in development of downtown San Jose properties,
along with purchases of buildings and vacant sites, has soared in the two years since it became apparent that Google was buying sites for a transit-oriented community near the Diridon train station.
Google has proposed development of office buildings, homes, restaurants, shops and open spaces in downtown San Jose where up to 25,000 people could work, including 15,000 to 20,000 employees of the search giant.
Yet Imwalle, while saying the Google development is a game changer, believes downtown San Jose will greatly benefit from the transit improvements that
are headed its way.
“Diridon Station is going to get BART and electrification of Caltrain, no matter what is the timing for the Google village,” Imwalle said. “The connections to transit are making a huge difference for downtown.”
The train station is already a hub for Caltrain, Amtrak, the Capitol Corridor, the ACE Train and light rail, along with buses. The station’s capabilities will greatly expand when BART arrives in the next several years.
Just down the block at 715 W. Julian St., 249 residential units and 27,000 square feet of retail are under construction.
Next door, developers are planning a 311-unit hotel that would also have 19 for-sale residential units and will feature dual hotel brands: Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott.
“There’s a lot going on in this area, and we expect more will happen in downtown San Jose,” Imwalle said.
Taller towers would create 4,900 jobs and increase economic activity in San Jose by $747 million, according to a city staff report released in January.
Buildings in the core part of downtown San Jose could be taller by five to 35 feet, which would amount to about two to three stories additional height.
On the west side of downtown San Jose, in contrast, buildings could be 70 to 150 feet taller than the structure that currently is the tallest in that area, which is the 110-foot-high SAP Center.
“There is a real focus on density in downtown San Jose, and the only way you can create density that makes a difference is to try to have higher buildings,” Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, said in a previous interview with this news organization.