SAN JOSE — A major real estate firm said it was confident in the prospects of downtown San Jose, noting that construction was underway to complete a huge high-tech campus in the heart of the city.
Planned to be an eye-catching office hub near Diridon Station, the Platform 16 office complex is a highly visible big bet being placed in downtown San Jose by the Development Alliance of Boston Properties. Name BXP — and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
“This is huge. It shows the confidence of sophisticated builders who are investing so heavily in the future of our city,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Ricardo, who will be building the Platform 16 Tech Campus. said in an interview with the news agency after touring the construction site.
Devcon Construction, the general contractor for the million-square-foot platform 16 complex, has been busy laying the sprawling foundations on the site, a multi-month process that is expected to be completed in December.
When completed, Platform 16 will total 1.1 million square feet and will consist of three office buildings and garages on site bounded by Autumn Parkway, West Julian Street, North Autumn Street and railroad tracks.
The development will have 16 terraces and will sprout just a short distance from Google’s planned Downtown West footprint.
Phase 1 of the current development will include a modern office building totaling 390,000 square feet. The building is expected to be completed during his first three months of 2025. Underground parking is also part of Phase 1. Work on the garage should start in his December of this year.
Platform 16 arrives at a time when there is a lot of uncertainty about how quickly employees will return to office workspaces due to the coronavirus.
Despite these challenges, Boston Properties believes several factors favor Platform 16. These include the dynamics of Silicon Valley plus the robust nature of the San Jose market.
Additionally, in the view of Aaron Fenton, senior vice president of development at BXP, corporate executives believe employees work better in an environment where they work in person rather than on conference calls.
“Employees are less productive when they work from home,” says Fenton. “Major business leaders across the country say he believes working in an office promotes collaboration and work efficiency.”
BXP also believes Platform 16 is the type of office product that attracts big tech companies.
“Platform 16 is the ideal example of a premier workplace, with a prime location and all the amenities and features that continue to attract major companies,” said Fenton.
CBRE’s commercial real estate brokers Sherman Chan, Mark Schmidt, Mike Charters, and Will Schmidt market technology campuses and seek tenants on behalf of property owners.
“We are meeting unmet demand,” Fenton said. “We believe our project is one of the few catalysts that can revitalize downtown San Jose West. ”
The region’s job market is booming with tech company ByteDance’s recent subleasing of 658,000 square feet at the Coleman Highline complex in San Jose. The Coleman Highline is a successful project just steps from the downtown district.
Deals like the ByteDance deal bode well for Platform 16. Notably, the first office building in that development is due to arrive in just over two years from now.
“By the time this project is fully completed and ready for occupancy, the office market will look very different,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive at land-use consultancy Silicon Valley Synergy. says. “Development closer to transit will become the new normal.”
BXP executives estimate that the Platform 16 development is generating an average of 150 construction jobs each day. That number is expected to double once construction begins on structures such as garages and office buildings.
“There are hundreds of construction jobs, but after this period the project could lead to thousands of jobs,” said Mayor Ricardo.
When completed, Platform 16 will be able to accommodate 5,500 jobs. Even the first office building could be large enough to accommodate 2,000 employees.
“There are a lot of doubts about this economy,” Riccardo said. “Smart money is positioned in the downtown future for the long term.”
