Google strikes deal to buy downtown San Jose church property

SAN JOSE — Google and its development ally have struck a deal to buy a church property on what is shaping up to be one of the key blocks needed for the tech titan’s proposed transit village in downtown San Jose.

Mountain View-based Google and realty partner San Francisco-based Trammell Crow have obtained an option to acquire a church site at 56 S. Montgomery St., which is directly across from the Diridon train station in downtown San Jose.

Financial terms of the deal, including how much Google intends to pay for the property, weren’t disclosed in the option, which is on file with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

The property is owned by Templo La Hermosa of the Assemblies of God, county records show.

Templo La Hermosa bought the property in 2017 from multiple entities, including Latin American Assemblies of God in California. The church paid $200,000 for the property, the county records show.

Google has spent about $234 million to obtain an array of properties near Diridon Station and SAP Center on the western edges of downtown San Jose.

The search giant has proposed a transit-oriented community of offices, homes, restaurants, stores, open spaces and amenities such as cultural and entertainment loops where 15,000 to 20,000 of its employees would eventually work.

The train station area is deemed increasingly attractive because the transit hub, already served by Caltrain, the Capitol Corridor, ACE Train, Amtrak and light rail, is also slated to be a BART stop and even a station for a high-speed rail line.

Templo La Hermosa has provided church services for 70 years at 56 S. Montgomery Street.

Rev. Erasmo Zuniga, in a previous interview with this news organization, estimated it would cost $6 million to $7 million to move the church, including acquiring a new property and constructing a new church for the congregation of 100.

Google also has reached agreements to purchase multiple other properties in the area.

Among these pacts is a deal whereby Google would buy an 8.5-acre development site just south of West Santa Clara Street and west of State Route 87 that’s been approved for 1.1 million square feet of offices in two towers, along with a residential high rise containing 325 housing units, as well as 35,000 square feet of retail.

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