PNC Bank Leases Last Vacant Offices at Santana Row

As the broader Silicon Valley office market comes back to life in the wake of the pandemic, the offices at San Jose’s Santana Row mixed-use district are now packed to the gills.

PNC Bank signed a lease for 11,000 square feet at the One Santana West building, grabbing the last unclaimed office space in Santana Row, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported. The One Santana West building, built by Santana Row developer Federal Realty Investment Trust, rises eight stories and spans 375,000 square feet at 3155 Olsen Drive in west San Jose.

The 370,000-square-foot Santana West office building was completed in 2022 and has brought in tenants such as Couchbase and consulting firm PwC, which is gearing up to move into the building this month as it departs its offices in downtown San Jose. On-site amenities include a fitness center, golf simulator and pickleball courts.

All of the approximately 1 million square feet of office space at Santana Row now being leased is “particularly impressive” given elevated vacancy rates in the surrounding areas, Federal Realty CEO Don Wood said on a recent earnings call, according to the Business Journal.

The Silicon Valley office market recorded a post-pandemic high of 3.2 million square feet in leasing last quarter, representing a 1.7-million-square-foot increase from the previous quarter, according to Savills’ first quarter report. Technology and artificial intelligence tenants like OpenAI, Databricks and Apple have been credited with the surge in appetite for office space across the region.

The gulf in office availability varies in size depending on the neighborhood in San Jose. According to Savills, downtown San Jose had the highest rate of available office space last quarter with 36.2 percent, while north San Jose was at 24.6 percent, and south San Jose at 9.7 percent. Santa Clara, north of west San Jose where Santana Row is located, had an office availability rate of 19.4 percent, per Savills data.

— Chris Malone Méndez