San Francisco-based TMG Partners has kicked off 2018 with two planned mixed-use projects totaling nearly 1.8-million sq ft. The larger of the two is a 1-million-sq-ft commercial office development in San Jose, while the second project is about 780,000 sq ft of office and mixed-use in Oakland.
The San Jose project is a joint venture between TMG and Valley Oak Partners LLC of San Jose (TMG-VOP Julian LLC). The JV announced Jan. 8 a Site Development Permit Application to the City of San Jose to develop the project, which is located near the Diridon Station in downtown San Jose.
The submittal follows San Jose City Council’s approval on Dec. 12 of the site’s rezoning from light and heavy industrial to Transit Employment Center (TEC), conforming to the City’s General Plan designation.
“This part of San Jose has the potential to serve as the new focal point of Silicon Valley,” said Matt Field, CIO at TMG Partner, and Steve Fisher, principal of Valley Oak Partners LLC, in a joint statement. “Our belief is that Diridon Station, in particular, will activate this historically industrial part of downtown San Jose into a bustling, inclusive, economic powerhouse."
The site is comprised of approximately 5.49 acres and is located within the Diridon Station Area Plan. The entire site is bounded by North Autumn Street to the west, West Julian Street to the south, and the recently opened Autumn Parkway to the east. It is partially occupied by industrial buildings and parking lots with 287 total spaces.
The surrounding area is experiencing rapid changes as Google has begun amassing properties, some of which are being negotiated to purchase from the City and other agencies, to create a transit-oriented village consisting of six to eight million sq-ft of offices.
The proposed project, designed by New York-based Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, lead designers of Hudson Yards in New York City, includes the development of three six-story office buildings and below-grade parking. The three buildings are 157,000 sq-ft, 367,000 sq-ft, and 499,000 sq-ft respectively, and have views towards Downtown San Jose. Each building will feature floor plates ranging from 27,000 sq-ft to 90,000 sq-ft, as well as 15-foot floor-to-floor heights, and large private terraces on every floor.
The development is a short walk to Diridon Station, San Jose’s intermodal transportation hub consisting of Caltrain, VTA Light-Rail, along with the planned BART and California High Speed Rail station, and is proximate to the SAP Center arena.
At the other end of San Francisco Bay, in Oakland, TMG announced recently the submission of a pre-application to develop a full city block at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Telegraph Avenue. The proposed development calls for a 760,000-sq-ft office building with approximately 10,000 sq-ft of ground floor retail and arts spaces. The development’s approval process is expected to run through 2018.
“2201 Valley gives us the opportunity to balance out the Bay Area’s traditional regional job centers and to further add to Oakland’s distinctive identity as the center of dynamism and diversity,” said TMG CEO Michael Covarrubias in a news release. “The proposed building’s large open floors, high-ceilings, and column-free spaces – made possible by the engineering required to span the BART tunnel that runs beneath the site – form the kind of creative work space that growing companies crave."
Located a block from the 19th Street BART Station, 2201 Valley is designed to achieve LEED Gold. The building, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB), has proposed fanned vertical steps that embrace the structural requirements of the BART span, and resolve into a visually distinct, stepped vertical tower broken by outdoor terraces and landscaped decks. The building's 10,000 sq-ft of ground floor spaces include dramatic 30-ft ceiling spaces for local retailers and artists to embrace the Uptown arts and retail community.
Parking in the building minimizes space for cars by utilizing automated car stackers that can be converted to active land uses as reliance on personal automobiles diminishes with time. The project will improve the land upon which it is located by removing the existing gas station and fuel tanks, in partnership with Alameda County Environmental Health.
