Swenson collects properties at choice downtown San Jose development site

SAN JOSE — The Swenson real estate firm has bought a commercial property in a key section of downtown San Jose, a deal that gives the veteran developer control of choice parcels near San Pedro Square and the site of Google’s proposed transit village.

Green Valley Corp., an entity controlled by Swenson, bought the property in downtown San Jose near the corner of North Almaden Boulevard and West St. John Street where Dark Horse Gym now operates.

The development and real estate investment company paid $2.25 million for the property whose addresses include 96 and 98 N. Almaden Blvd., according to public documents filed on Nov. 6.

This deal represents the latest property that the Swenson-headed Green Valley firm has bought on that block, which is bounded by West St. John Street, North Almaden Boulevard, Carlysle Street, and Notre Dame Avenue. Green Valley also owns three adjacent parcels, which take up roughly half the block and total about one acre in size, county property records show.

“This is an excellent development site,” said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association.

The other half of the block is slated to be the site of a mixed-use tower of offices, residences, and a restaurant known as The Carlyle by local developers John Pringle and Dennis Randall, principal executives of Acquity Realty.

Swenson, one of the Bay Area’s most active developers and construction companies, declined to comment about the company’s newest purchase. The firm also didn’t discuss the company’s overall strategy in collecting the sites on the block.

No development proposals have been formally floated yet by Swenson for the property. Swenson also owns a nearby site where housing could be developed in the North San Pedro district.

One notable current project for Swenson is The Graduate, a student housing tower under construction near East San Carlos Street and South Third Street in downtown San Jose.

The site Swenson has purchased is a short distance from San Pedro Square and San Pedro Market, the SAP Center, a residential neighborhood that has begun to emerge north of San Pedro Square, and the Google transit village development site. Plus, legendary developer and business executive Lew Wolff is advising a development team that plans a new hotel tower just down the block from the Swenson parcels.

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Big credit union plans new downtown San Jose branch Google has proposed a neighborhood called Downtown West that would consist of office buildings, homes, restaurants, shops, cultural hubs, entertainment centers, and open spaces where the search giant could employ 25,000 people near the Diridon train station.

Knies believes the one-acre collection of parcels now owned by Swensonwould be a prime location for either offices or housing, or a mixed-use tower. “These properties are right on the threshold of the downtown core and Downtown West,” Knies said.

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