Bo Town site in downtown San Jose is grabbed by busy developer

SAN JOSE — One of downtown San Jose’s most active developers and investors has bought the Bo Town restaurant site in an up-and-coming section of the city’s urban core, in a deal that was completed Tuesday.

The buyer of the Bo Town property is a group led by Urban Community, a company headed by busy developer Gary Dillabough, according to sources with close knowledge of the transaction.

Urban Community and its investment partners paid $15 million for the site of the old Bo Town restaurant, according to the sources.

The Bo Town property is at 409 S. Second St. near East San Salvador Street and is directly south of the Valley Title property that a Dillabough-led group purchased during 2018.

That means Dillabough and his partners can craft development projects at the respective Valley Title and Bo Town sites that would work in synergy with each other.

A residential tower is one potential development option for the Bo Town site, since it would be across the street from the Valley Title property. However, no development proposals have emerged yet.

The restaurant went out of business while the long-time dining establishment was the tenant of the property owner that sold the site to the Dillabough group. The buyers had no involvement in the departure of the restaurant.

The Bo Town deal suggests that interest in developing projects in downtown San Jose has yet to wane, said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy.

“There are bellwether sites that are getting developed that show downtown San Jose still has a lot of momentum,” Staedler said. “Adobe began construction on its new office tower, work is starting on Platform 16, Jay Paul Co. is planning to develop 200 Park Ave.”

Adding to the momentum: Google has proposed a transit-oriented community of office buildings, homes, restaurants, and shops on the western edges of downtown San Jose where 25,000 could work, including 15,000 to 20,000 of the search giant’s workers.

The crucial Valley Title property on a block bounded by San Salvador, Second, San Carlos and First streets now features a surface parking lot and fast-aging office building. Dillabough aims to redevelop the Valley Title property with a million-square-foot complex of offices, retail, and residences.

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Both of these choice sites are in downtown San Jose’s South First Area, or SoFA district, an increasingly busy hub for arts, entertainment, restaurants, and nightclubs.

“The SoFA area has turned into a really neat, really cool area,” Staedler said.

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