Sobrato to build 187K office building in Downtown Mountain View

A prominent Silicon Valley developer will build a four-story commercial office building across from City Hall in Santa Clara.

The Sobrato Organization, based in Mountain View, won approval to construct the 187,000-square-foot building at 590 Castro Street, SFYimby reported. The project will replace a single-story commercial building and parking lot.

Plans call for a 55-foot-tall building with 102,330 square feet of offices, plus an 85,320-square-foot parking garage for 250 cars and 38 bicycles.

The building, designed by KSH Architects of San Francisco, would feature floor-to-ceiling banks of glass with gray metal trim, offset by tawny brick squares. The top floor will be set back, creating a terrace deck for employees.

Generous eves will compliment the contemporary look, with a historic feel.

The Downtown Santa Clara offices will be located next to Pioneer Memorial Park, linked by a midblock paseo to Castro Street.

Landscaping, designed by The Guzzardo Partnership of San Francisco, will include London plane trees along the sidewalk. A plaza on the north side of the building will feature outdoor seating, a terraced wood panel deck, lawns and tables.

A plaza centerpiece art sculpture is proposed nearby the street, according to SFYimby.

The offices will be a 15-minute walk from the Mountain View Caltrain Station, with access to downtown restaurants and shops. Along with City Hall, the building will share a block with the Center for the Performing Arts and Public Library.

The Sobrato Organization is owned by the Sobrato family, which since the 1950s has developed 21.4 million square feet of offices, research labs and multifamily projects from San Francisco to San Jose, including Apple’s campus and former headquarters in Cupertino, according to its website.

Its assets include more than 7.5 million square feet of offices in Northern California leased to the likes of Airbnb, Amazon.com and Netflix, plus 6,700 apartments.

Last month, the city of San Jose was awarded a $51.5 million grant from the state’s Project Homekey program, for which Sobrato will build a 204-unit interim apartment complex for homeless and very low-income residents at Branham Lane and Monterey Road.

— Dana Bartholomew