Stanley Group Files Plans for 85 Townhomes in San Jose

The Stanley Group wants to replace a 103,200-square-foot office building in North San Jose with 85 townhomes.

The Campbell-based investor led by Russell Stanley has filed preliminary plans for either an office-to-home conversion or a replacement of the six-story building at 2107 North First Street, the San Jose Mercury News reported, citing city planning documents.

The move by Stanley comes as office vacancies have hit record highs across the Bay Area during a pandemic shift to remote work.

Office vacancy in Downtown San Francisco hit 33.9 percent in the third quarter, followed by 31.5 percent in San Jose and 29.7 percent in Oakland, according to CBRE.

San Francisco saw its empty offices in Downtown climb 2.3 percent from the second quarter, while San Jose’s rose 0.2 percent and Oakland’s increased 1.2 percent.

Add the amount of offices available for sublease from July through September, and the marketplace looks even worse.

Available offices for sublease in Silicon Valley were a record 7.6 million square feet in the third quarter, yet asking average monthly rates rose to $5.22 per square foot, from $5.18 during the previous period.

Downtown San Jose had a 32.7 percent availability rate, up from 27.8 percent.

Bayshore Plaza, the North San Jose building owned by Stanley, sits on 3.9 acres at the corner of North First Street and Karina Court, next to a VTA light rail stop.

The Class B building, built in 1985, is near Highway 101 and Interstate 880, according to Loopnet.

Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy, said putting 85 townhomes on the site would not be very many homes for a 3.9-acre parcel.

“Even for townhouses, 22 dwellings per acre is extremely low density,” Staedler told the Mercury News.The Stanley Group has proposed building 107 townhomes a few blocks away at 2611 North First Street, replacing offices. That site is 4.9 acres, which means the density also works out to 22 homes per acre.