Miro towers developer widens downtown San Jose property purchases

SAN JOSE — The developer of the Miro residential towers project in downtown San Jose — expected to be a dramatic addition to the city skyline — has widened its property purchases across the street from the future high rises.

Bayview Development, the builder of Miro, a two-tower residential project on East Santa Clara Street between Fourth and Fifth streets, has bought an older two-story building a short distance away, according to Santa Clara County property records filed on July 15.

“We think this neighborhood, this part of downtown San Jose, is heading in a good direction,” said Ted McMahon, chief investment officer with San Jose-based Bayview Development. “This is a neighborhood with a lot of potential.”

Acting through an affiliate, Sunstone Fund II, Bayview Development paid $2.4 million for the two-story building, which has an address of 130 through 134 E. Santa Clara St. and is located between Third and Fourth streets, the county documents show.

“As properties become available in the area, we try to tie them up,” McMahon said.

In February, a group led by Bayview Development bought a historic brick building, known over a period of decades as State Meat Market. The most prominent business in that building is 4th Street Pizza, a popular restaurant and watering hole across the street from San Jose City Hall.

At the time, McMahon said that Bayview’s motive in the purchase was to assure a lively restaurant and retail scene across the street from the future towers.

The same approach is in play in this week’s acquisition of the 130 through 134 E. Santa Clara St. building, a deal that was arranged by Ritchie Commercial, a real estate firm.

“Bayview is making an enormous investment in this part of the downtown,” said Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial. “Those Miro towers are going to be an exceptional development. As Bayview gains control of more of the properties in the neighborhood, they can assure a high-quality level of tenants in the area.”

This part of the downtown has been largely neglected by developers and commercial property investors until recently.

Lately, developers such as Gary Dillabough and Jay Paul Co., along with brand-new players such as Urban Catalyst, have begun to scout for more development and investment opportunities in the parts of downtown San Jose that are east and south of the bustling San Pedro Square district.

On the western edges of the downtown, Google has proposed a transit-oriented community that would consist of office buildings, homes, shops, restaurants, and open spaces where 25,000 could work, including 15,000 to 20,000 of the search giant’s employees.

“The view of how we define downtown San Jose is expanding,” McMahon said. “More things are happening outside of what has traditionally been considered to be the core of the downtown.”

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