Thousands are on waitlist for 500 SoFA apartments
Units are for sale, not rent; initial high-rise will contain 140 homes
SAN JOSE >> Three downtown San Jose housing towers have reached a key money milestone for a development that has accumulated a waiting list of thousands of prospective residents.
The high-rises are being planned for sites at 420 S. Second St., 98 E. San Salvador St. and 420 S. Third St. in the hip and trendy SoFA district.
In the most recent funding round for the project, Nabr, a real estate tech company, raised $48 million in financing through an effort led by 2150, a venture capital firm investing in startups aimed at making cities more ecofriendly and livable. Nabr uses software to automate how people choose and design their homes and craft financing packages.
“The funding puts us in position to begin the next phase of this project,” said Roni Bahar, chief executive officer and co-founder of Nabr. “In our next phase, we are going to start interacting and transacting with customers and residents.”
Together, the three high-rises are expected to produce about 500 units once they are built, according to Nabr, which is heading up the development and delivery of the residences.
“We have developed a waitlist of potential residents,” said Cara Eckholm, head of growth with Nabr. “We have about 4,000 people on that waitlist.”
About 45% of the people on the waitlist currently reside in singlefamily homes, according to Nabr.
“There is untapped demand for living in downtown San Jose,” Bahar said. “We want to see more people become permanent residents in our large cities, especially in our urban core.”
The first of the three towers that will be made available for customers will contain 140 units. At the outset, Nabr intends to sell and not rent the units.
“We are building apartments for ownership, which is very rarely done in a downtown area,” Bahar said. “We are approaching our first building as a very highquality project. These will be market-rate units.”
Affordable homes aren't included. Instead, the units will be geared toward middle-income and higher-income people.
“It is extremely expensive to build in San Jose,” Bahar said. “We aim to fill the missing middle. However, we do not have affordable housing, as defined by the government, in our initial products.”
Customers who don't have enough money for a down payment can negotiate a deal with an option to buy the unit.
“We make the process transparent and very clear to customers,” Bahar said. “The idea is to make the process of buying a home very enjoyable for the consumer.”
The real estate firm describes itself as a consumer-oriented housing company that delivers custom and sustainable apartments in large numbers.
“Nabr treats housing like a true consumer product,” the company states. “Our goal is to put more people on a path to owning a high-quality, environmentally friendly home in the city.”
“In our conversations with consumers, we are trying to tap into people who are 27 to 40 who are in the beginning of forming a family, are first-time homebuyers who are looking in the $1 million to $2 million range,” Eckholm said.
Nabr will also now seek to obtain financing to bankroll the construction of the first tower.
The co-founders of Nabr are Bjarke Ingels, founder and principal executive of legendary architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group; Bahar, a former WeWork executive; and Nick Chim, co-founder of Flux, a spinout of the ultra-secret Google X laboratory.
The designs of the units are expected to have a Scandinavian feel. The residences will also have at least one amenity that is nearly never seen in a downtown apartment.
“The balconies are massive — 350 square feet,” Bahar said. “You can have a barbecue, a dining room, maintain a vegetable garden. You can grow a tree.”
Nabr also hopes to help spur a rebound in urban cores such as downtown San Jose, which has been battered by economic woes tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
“People always come back to cities, back to the downtown,” Bahar said. “We see downtown San Jose as the launchpad for our approach to owning a home.”