SAN JOSE — A building containing a sex shop that a fatal arson fire had gutted could be bulldozed and replaced with a residential tower in downtown San Jose.

The fire in September captured plenty of attention: Investigators determined the blaze at the Craze 4 Toys Adult Superstore, a long-time fixture at 17 E. Santa Clara St. in San Jose, was set by store owner Pirtpal Singh, 33, who had been evicted from the building and died in the conflagration.

Now, the property owner, Cupertino resident Eunice Kim, has proposed the development of a residential tower that would replace the two-story building near the corner of East Santa Clara Street and North First Street, according to documents on file with San Jose city planners.

The proposal that’s been submitted to the city planning department is described in the documents as “very preliminary” and there are no assurances that the project would be built as now envisioned.

However, the current plans propose the construction of a 21-story residential tower with ground-floor retail, after the existing two-story commercial building is bulldozed.

Much of that stretch of East Santa Clara Street, particularly on the north side of the thoroughfare between First and Second streets, is dominated by empty retail sites and boarded up windows.

“Activating and renovating that corridor in downtown San Jose is critical,” said Gary Dillabough, principal executive with Urban Community, an increasingly busy developer in downtown San Jose.

Dillabough heads up partnerships that own several properties in the vicinity on the south side of Santa Clara Street, including the iconic Bank of Italy office tower. Dillabough has launched a wide-ranging facelift of the historic Bank of Italy tower, and he and others have advocated for an improved Santa Clara Street.

The interest in upgrades, investments, and redevelopment along Santa Clara Street has intensified amid plans by BART to add two train stations in downtown San Jose, one at First and Santa Clara Streets and another at the Diridon transit hub on the western edges of downtown.

“This whole corridor needs a refresh and we need to be encouraging as much density as possible to leverage the multi-billion-dollar BART project that is being delivered to our doorstep,” said Joshua Burroughs, a partner with Urban Catalyst, which has invested in several downtown San Jose projects where the company has proposed major redevelopment efforts.

The preliminary plans for the residential tower propose 97 housing units, including 95 one-bedroom units and a pair of two-bedroom units.

The new housing tower also might contain 1,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, the proposal stated.

These kinds of upgrades are badly needed, according to Dillabough.

“San Jose is becoming a world-class city, and that adult store really didn’t help to deliver that kind of vision,” Dillabough said.