Westbank and Urban Community are once again considering shifting plans for an office building to housing in Downtown San Jose. New permits for the Valley Title property at 300 South First Street and 345 South Second Street have shifted from two office towers into three clustered 30-story apartment towers with over a thousand homes. However, the joint venture is not canceling permits for the office iteration. Steinberg Hart is responsible for the design.
300 South 1st Street corner view, rendering by Steinberg Hart
Renderings were shared yesterday morning first on the Bay Area News Group with reporting by George Avalos. The latest design appears to reuse the orchard-lined balconies and curtain-wall skin drafted for the prior office project as designed by WRNS Studio and architect of record Steinberg Hart for two of the three new towers. The third tower will be a cylindrical highrise rising from the inner lot, overlooked by the two towers fronting South Second Street and San Carlos Street.
The three-tower residential plans for the Valley Title site would construct 1,147 apartments across three 30-story towers and one level of underground parking. The complex will add 18,400 square feet of ground-level retail to the SoFa District, alongside nearly 9,000 square feet of amenities, a courtyard, and a fitness center for residents.
300 South 1st Street pedestrian view, rendering by Steinberg Hart
300 South 1st Street, rendering by Steinberg Hart
As reported by Avalos, Westbank and Urban Community have submitted plans for the housing project to have two entitlement options for potential construction. This pre-development option is an uncommon approach but one we’ve covered several times before, such as for 1431 Franklin Street in Oakland and 2021 for 530 Sansome Street in San Francisco.
The move from offices to housing for the Westbank San Jose campus started in January this year, with plans to convert the historic Bank of Italy offices into over a hundred apartments, for which construction is underway. In August, the duo made a similar move to consider a residential project instead of offices on the Charles Davidson Building site at 255 West Julian Street. The two remaining commercial real estate plans are at 180 Park Avenue and the Energy Hub at 35 South Second Street.
While demolition has finished for 180 Park Avenue, and despite several missed self-proposed deadlines, Westbank and Urban Community have yet to commence construction on any new development. The team has been facing the same challenges that have mired the real estate market since 2022, with a shifting cultural approach to work, the rising cost of construction, and increased federal interest rates.
300 South 1st Street aerial view, rendering by Steinberg Hart
300 South 1st Street second iteration development site outlined approximately by YIMBY, image via Google Satellite
The timeline for approval and construction has yet to be established.
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I hope this version gets built.
Much needed. This is a very drab part of San Jose despite good public transit access.
One level of parking is thoroughly insufficient for 1100 apartments. The overflow parking needs will wipe out all local transient parking spots. The site abuts the California Theatre so anyone attending the theatre will not have a parking option. Overstuffing a single lot is good for developers but not for the community.
There is a public parking garage a 4 minute walk from the California Theatre, I think attendees will survive.
The buildings look like they already have mold spots on them.
1000 apartments. Good luck with that.
We get it, you are a NIMBY luddite. I challenge you to say anything intelligent (you can’t).
Your ancestors opposed the stone age transitioning to the bronze age.
What’s the point of demolishing existing buildings when a developer is not sure if they will be able to begin construction? Seems very retarded!