Huge industrial complex is launched in Milpitas, could lure top tech firms

Development will consist of more than 700,000 square feet

MILPITAS >> A huge industrial complex in Milpitas is now under construction, and its developer believes the project could attract major tech players.

Bridge Point Silicon Valley, a complex totaling 722,000 square feet, will sprout along McCarthy Boulevard near State Route 237 in Milpitas and mark the first foray into the Bay Area industrial market for project creator Bridge Development Partners.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this project,” said Greg Woolway, vice president and Bay Area officer for Bridge Development. “What we find interesting here is Milpitas and the South Bay as a whole represent a crossroads for the entire Bay Area market.”

Silicon Valley offers a crossroads not only geographically, but also in a corporate sense.

To be sure, the Milpitas area is close to big employment hubs such as San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco, along with being reasonably proximate to Interstate 5, the bustling northsouth route for the entire West Coast.

Bridge Point Silicon Valley, though, also is close to major operations of Fortune 100 tech and e-commerce companies. Apple, Amazon, Google, and Tesla come to mind.

Amazon, in particular, has been busy renting huge industrial sites in the Bay Area in recent months.

Late in 2019, Amazon leased large distribution and warehouse complexes in Milpitas and Livermore. On Christmas Eve, Amazon Web Services filed public documents showing it has leased a large industrial site

in Santa Clara.

Bridge Development is well aware of the robust appetite for industrial projects in multiple Bay Area locations.

With that demand in mind, Bridge anticipates that its two-building Milpitas complex will evolve into more than a typical industrial building that hulks along a freeway, street, or railway.

Bridge Point Silicon Valley is expected to sport touches that are unusual for industrial centers, according to Woolway.

“We didn’t want this to be a traditional warehouse use,” Woolway said. “We have really cool wood features on these buildings. They have a lot of glass and glazing. You normally don’t see that with industrial.”

Executives with Chicagobased Bridge Development are betting that today’s tech companies want to dangle an array of attractive workplaces, office and industrial alike, in front of employees and recruits.

“Tenants want to have places of work that their employees can take pride in,” Woolway said.

Construction on the complex at 205 N. McCarthy Blvd. is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Brokers Jason Ovadia

and Greg Matter of JLL, a commercial real estate firm, have begun to scout for one or more tenants to lease the property.

One of the buildings will total 388,000 square feet and the other will be 334,000 square feet, according to Woolway.

Bridge Development obtained the land for its future Milpitas industrial complex in July 2019 when a company affiliate paid $78.1 million for 35.4 acres of fields.

The land parcel that Bridge bought is flanked by the three office buildings, a large industrial complex, the McCarthy Ranch retail and restaurant center, and Coyote Creek, so it fits the definition of an in-fill site.

“This project serves as a fantastic beachhead for our growth into the Bay Area,” Woolway said. “We have other Bay Area projects that are going into the pipeline. Milpitas is the first one to break ground.”

Bridge Development doesn’t intend to wait to land a tenant before it proceeds with the Milpitas industrial buildings.

“We are getting a lot of interest in this project,” Woolway said. “There is tremendous demand from our tenants and tech companies that are focused on logistics and e-commerce.”