Big San Jose apartment complex near Google village draws buyer
New building in downtown near station is bought by large insurer from Midwest
SAN JOSE >> A big apartment complex in downtown San Jose that’s located within walking distance of a huge transit village that Google aims to develop has been purchased by a group controlled by a financial services titan from the Midwest.
808 West Apartments, a downtown San Jose residential project near the Diridon train station, has been bought by a buying group led by Wisconsinbased The Northwestern Mutual, according to Santa Clara County property files.
The 315-unit apartment complex is prominently located at 808 W. San Carlos St. near the corner of Sunol Street. Along the rear of the apartments is a rail line that feeds into the Diridon train station.
That rail line is a reminder of the choice location of 808 West. Diridon Station and the core of the Google transit village is about a 12-minute walk, or a four-minute drive, away from the justbought apartments.
The Northwestern Mutual affiliate paid $184 million for 808 West Apartments, county documents that were filed on Feb. 27 show.
Google has proposed a transit-oriented community near Diridon Station called Downtown West where the search giant would employ 25,000 people and office buildings, hotel rooms, shops, restaurants, and homes would sprout.
Plus, Adobe is constructing an office tower on West San Fernando Street that would dramatically expand the tech titan’s existing downtown San Jose headquarters campus of three buildings.
Some of those employees could stroll to work if they happened to live at 808 West, which was developed by Fairfield Residential.
Other investors have embraced at least one other large San Jose residential project in the vicinity of 808 West.
In 2018, the Meridian at Midtown apartment complex at 1432 W. San Carlos St. was bought by Essex Property Trust, which paid $104 million for that 218-unit development.
“The 808 West deal equates to $584,000 per door, which shows a jump in valuation for San Jose apartment deals,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy. “The Meridian at Midtown deal was $477,000 per door.”
it appears the prospect of Google’s downtown Jose transit village could have influenced the interest in the 808 West apartments.
“The Google sphere of influence will last for a while,” Staedler said.