SAN JOSE — A big housing development could sprout on the site of a San Jose office building, fresh signs that the lousy office market is creating pressure to convert the spaces into residential units.
Hundreds of apartments could be built on the north San Jose office site, which is on North First Street between Charcot Avenue and East Brokaw Road, documents on file with city planners show.
An estimated 250 residences could be developed on the property, according to the project proposal.
Office vacancies have jumped while building values and rental rates have tumbled in the Bay Area.
As a result of this forbidding economic landscape, a growing number of commercial property owners have begun to scout for ways to cope with the fast-weakening office market in the Bay Area and nationwide.
Some strategies involve the replacement of an office building with housing following a demolition. Other approaches envision a conversion of an office building so it can accommodate residences inside the existing structure.
The preliminary filing with San Jose planners for the building on North First Street didn’t specify the type of approach for this site.
The six-story office building on the site totals 122,500 square feet and is located at 2150 North First Street, a post on the LoopNet commercial property listings site shows.
An affiliate of Expansive, a Chicago-based company that provides co-working facilities for tenants seeking a flexible amount of office space, owns the building, according to documents on file with the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office.
The building’s assessed value is $44.2 million, county real estate records show.
