Meeting for Former Fry’s Electronics Redevelopment in North San Jose

The San Jose Planning Commission is scheduled to review the site development permits proposal for the redevelopment of the former Fry’s Electronics property at 550 East Brokaw Road in North San Jose, Santa Clara County. The project would reshape a 19.7-acre property occupied by the box store and surface parking with almost two million square feet of office space and a public park. Bay West Development is responsible for the proposal, with architectural design by Gensler.

550 East Brokaw Road shaded public open area, rendering by Gensler

550 East Brokaw Road view from the rooftop terrace of an office block, rendering by Gensler

The project will create seven office buildings and two parking structures spanning a total of 3.7 million square feet with 1.9 million square feet of offices and 1.6 million square feet for parking for 5,385 cars. Terraces spread across the project will total 84,750 square feet and additional bicycle parking for 410 bicycles.

Caracol Property Owner LLC is listed as the property owner. Reporting by the Bay Area News Group in 2020 connects the former Fry’s CFO/CIO, David Fry, as the general partner for Caracol. The name of the LLC ties the San Jose box store’s Mayan temple theme to the large ancient Maya complex in Belize named Caracol.

550 East Brokaw Road inner-block view, rendering by Gensler

550 East Brokaw Road street perspective, rendering by Gensler

Gensler’s San Jose offices are leading the design. The design is heavily focused on landscaping, with the new buildings clad in curtain-wall and solid panels. Facade materials include metal, tinted concrete, and frosted glass. Renderings show the white panels, though the design is still at a concept stage and could be subject to change.

Each office building will rise eight floors to approximately 90-100 feet above street level. The structures will be asymmetrically aligned, cloistering around a landscaped pathway with shading and seating. The public space will be improved with landscaped pathways. The Guzzardo Partnership is responsible for landscape architecture. CBG is consulting on civil engineering, DCI on structural engineering, and ACIES on MEP engineering.

550 East Brokaw Road landscaped map, illustration by Guzzardo Partnership

550 East Brokaw Road site outlined, illustration courtesy planning documents

The property was previously occupied by Fry’s Electronics, a national big-box store selling electronics that dramatically closed all locations in February of 2021. Demolition will be required for the existing structure and 274 cars.

Construction will be divided across four phases to last 23 months each, or 92 months in total. Completion is expected by June of 2031.

The San Jose Planning Commission is scheduled to meet today, January 11th, at 6:30 PM. For more information about the meeting and how to attend, visit the meeting agenda here.

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