SAN JOSE — Google has acquired ownership of a small plot of downtown San Jose that dates back to the days of the Old West, in a deal that will help the search giant drive its groundbreaking new Transit Village.
The property comprises several road slices and a few road slices within Google’s proposed new neighborhood footprint near Diridon Station and SAP Center, which consists of office buildings, residences, shops, restaurants, entertainment hubs, cultural loops and parks. It consists of small chunks.
Google and the City of San Jose formed a consortium to bring together parcels whose original owners were four lords of the Bay Area’s first lands from the days of Settlement California.
There are many lines. Google plans to employ up to 25,000 tech workers in the new district known as Downtown West.
The whole idea behind this process is to allow Google or the city to claim rights to chunks and slivers of land.
Google and the city will work together to “acquire” ownership of four properties and ensure that all remaining parcels are transferred by court order and deed to tech companies and local governments. Sites are either search giants or cities.
Four land barons – Frederick Billings, Archibald Peachy, Henry Nagley, and August Cheval – purchased hundreds of acres of land in and near downtown San Jose around 1865. Documents filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
These four men may not exactly be household names, but Civil War Union General Henry Naglee is the namesake of San Jose’s historic Nagley Park neighborhood. . General Naglee established an estate in San Jose, known for its vineyards and gardens.
Yet their 19th-century South Bay tract remains a parcel remnant in what is now downtown San Jose.
Google had previously tracked at least 37 people believed to be descendants of the four land barons in a process that lasted months dating back to 2022.
The four parcels involved in potential land disputes are mainly located on roads and streets near transit stations and SAP centers. In other words, fans on their way to a shark game or commuters trying to catch a train could have easily walked this land for decades.
The sites are:
- South Montgomery Street Road between East San Fernando Street and Park Avenue, 1.2 acres.
- 0.9 acres on part of Park Avenue that extends west from South Montgomery.
- A small section of South Autumn Street aka Barack Obama Blvd on the corner of East San Fernando Street near the 6,195-square-foot former Poor House Bistro site.
- 187 square feet on bedroom-sized Otterson Street near where the Cheval family once lived.
In the latest development related to this century-and-a-half-old story, four property owners have filed waiver deeds. It means that you are the owner of 2 of the parcels.
Peter Adams, Gregory Adams, Scott Gregory Adams, and Christopher Adams each filed separately to allow Google the two parcels, according to documents filed with the Santa Clara County Records Department on Feb. 1. submitted a non-smoking request form.
The subdivisions concerned are a 1.2-acre lot on the road on South Montgomery Street between East San Fernando Street and Park Avenue, and a 0.9-acre parcel on Park Avenue extending west from South Montgomery Street, according to the county and the court. records show.
Google paid each of the four Adams family sellers $5,000, according to county records. Google said he paid cash on all four transactions.