SAN JOSE – A serious regional transit agency is negotiating to buy an office tower in downtown San Jose for its future headquarters. This deal could provide a significant boost to town's urban heart.
The VTA has chosen an office tower at 488 South Almaden Boulevard as the brand new headquarters of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency.
If those talks fail, the VTA has chosen an office complex in north San Jose at 1650-1700 Technology Drive as a alternative location, in line with the transportation agency.
The downtown San Jose office tower that the VTA is actively negotiating to buy is a 17-story tower with a complete area of 379,000 square feet. CBRE, a business real estate firm, is marketing the office tower, called Almaden Crossing.
The VTA has approved the terms of purchase of the constructing, which weren’t initially known.
In recent months, the VTA has been on the lookout for a constructing of as much as 500,000 square feet that it could lease with an choice to purchase.
“The commercial real estate market is in a tough spot,” Jessie O'Malley Solis, VTA director of real estate and transit-oriented development, told the transportation agency's board of directors at a recent meeting.
Because of this need, the transportation authority concluded that this was a superb time to search for office buildings that could possibly be converted into the VTA's future headquarters, Solis said at a recent VTA meeting.
“There are some significant opportunities for VTA to potentially move at a discounted rate,” Solis said.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency is targeting 2026 because the time to maneuver into its recent offices.
“The intended use of this facility is office and administrative work,” in line with VTA headquarters requirements documents that Colliers has circulated. Colliers brokers Grant Zamudio, Paul McManus, Kevin Moul and Mike Lee are representing the VTA in its seek for space.
The transit agency's seek for a brand new headquarters has emerged at a time when the VTA has faced widespread criticism and skepticism over its attempts to bring a BART extension to downtown San Jose.
The BART project has exceeded its budget goals several times and is under scrutiny because of out-of-control costs.
The VTA plans to issue a bond to finance the acquisition, tenant improvements and any crucial renovations to the office tower.
The cost of the bond measure could possibly be as much as $135 million.
During the Oct. 3 VTA board meeting, Solis said that in her greater than twenty years as a business real estate skilled, she has never seen such a difficult marketplace for office constructing owners.
“This is the lowest price I’ve ever seen,” Solis said.
With the move to the Almaden Crossing Tower, the VTA also hopes to stimulate the economy in downtown San Jose.
“In our effort to be good stewards of tax dollars, we are fortunate to be able to take advantage of the current buyer's market while helping fill vacant spaces in downtown San Jose to enhance the vibrancy of our county's largest city,” Solis said in an announcement.
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