The Sterling Organization aims to turn a former Fry’s Electronics store in Fremont into a site for manufacturing and tech research.
The Florida-based private equity investor filed plans to convert the 143,800-square-foot former big-box store into an industrial building at 43800 Osgood Road, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
In June, an affiliate of the West Palm Beach-based firm bought the former Fry’s building once packed with computer hard drives and big-screen TVs for $35.7 million, or $248 per square foot.
The seller of the 11.2-acre property was an affiliate of Quality Real Estate, once based at the former Fry’s Electronics headquarters in San Jose.
The Fry’s Electronics store closed in early 2021 when the chain known for its thematic architecture went belly up, shutting 31 stores in nine states after failing to meet the challenge posed by online commerce. It has sat vacant since.
The Sterling Organization plans to fully renovate the building for advanced manufacturing and research and development.
The firm’s proposed makeover would include a new facade and a 7,500-square-foot mezzanine, expanding the former store to 151,300 square feet.
The Sterling Organization, founded in 2007 by Brian Kosoy and Greg Moross, has $2 billion in assets under management in 75 commercial properties, with offices in 10 states, according to its website.
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In June, the company’s consumer logistics fund, created during the pandemic to buy vacant retail properties and convert them into distribution centers, sold a 152,000-square-foot former Fry’s Electronics store in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove for $24.5 million, or $161 per square foot.
In April last year, Sterling bought two shopping centers in Fremont for more than $40 million. The deal for the 117,000 square feet of retail at 6690-46850 Warm Springs Road and 46650 Mohave Drive worked out to $342 per square foot.
— Dana Bartholomew