Downtown San Jose housing tower site bought by developer
Location is in area where residential construction eyed
A site where a housing tower is being planned in an up-andcoming downtown San Jose neighborhood has been bought by a busy developer, public documents show.
Urban Community, a development firm headed up by local real estate executives Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga, has bought a property at the corner of East San Salvador Street and South Third Street in San Jose's SoFA district, documents filed on April 1 with the Santa Clara County Recorder's Office show.
An affiliate of Urban Community paid $5.1 million for the site at 98 E. San Salvador, according to public records.
Dillabough and Arrillaga are planning to develop a residential tower on the property, one of three that the real estate executives envision in the immediate vicinity.
The three towers together are expected to produce an estimated 386 residential units.
The Urban Community real estate firm headed by Arrillaga and Dillabough had previously bought other sites in the neighborhood. Each of the three sites would accommodate a new housing tower.
The three sites that the Dillabough and Arrillaga firm bought are located within a block of each other.
• 418 S. Second St., 420 S. Second St., and 415 S. Third St., which notably include the well-known Dai Thanh Supermarket site. A 22-story tower with 154 units could rise at this site, located at the corner of South Second Street and East San Salvador Street. In 2021, the developers paid $17.4 million for the properties.
• 420 S. Third St., now the location of Metro Garden Apartments. A 20-story tower with 154 units is planned at this site. The developers paid $13 million for this site.
• 98 E. San Salvador St. and 415 S. Third St., the site of a frozen yogurt shop and beauty salon. This was the site of this month's $5.1 million deal. A 12-story tower with about 80 units is being eyed on the parcel. In the most recent deal, the Dillabough-Arrillaga affiliate obtained $3.9 million in financing from Lone Oak Fund.
“As San Jose grows it will be critical to provide ownership options to people who want to become residents of the downtown core,” Dillabough said in a December 2021 interview
with this news organization about his effort to develop the three towers.
The three housing towers all have an airy and open look to them with a considerable amount of greenery, the concepts for the proposed project show.
“This creates healthier and more vibrant communities,” Dillabough said, “because the residents are less transitory and will want to engage in creating a great community.”