SAN JOSE — A major real estate firm said it was confident in the prospects of downtown San Jose, noting that construction was underway to complete a huge high-tech campus in the heart of the city.
Planned to be an eye-catching office hub near Diridon Station, the Platform 16 office complex is a highly visible big bet being placed in downtown San Jose by the Development Alliance of Boston Properties. Name BXP — and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
“This is huge. It shows the confidence of sophisticated builders who are investing so heavily in the future of our city,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Ricardo, who will be building the Platform 16 Tech Campus. said in an interview with the news agency after touring the construction site.
Devcon Construction, the general contractor for the million-square-foot platform 16 complex, has been busy laying the sprawling foundations on the site, a multi-month process that is expected to be completed in December.
When completed, Platform 16 will total 1.1 million square feet and will consist of three office buildings and garages on site bounded by Autumn Parkway, West Julian Street, North Autumn Street and railroad tracks.
The development will have 16 terraces and will sprout just a short distance from Google’s planned Downtown West footprint.
Phase 1 of the current development will include a modern office building totaling 390,000 square feet. The building is expected to be completed during his first three months of 2025. Underground parking is also part of Phase 1. Work on the garage should start in his December of this year.
Platform 16 arrives at a time when there is a lot of uncertainty about how quickly employees will return to office workspaces due to the coronavirus.
Despite these challenges, Boston Properties believes several factors favor Platform 16. These include the dynamics of Silicon Valley plus the robust nature of the San Jose market.
Additionally, in the view of Aaron Fenton, senior vice president of development at BXP, corporate executives believe employees work better in an environment where they work in person rather than on conference calls.
“Employees are less productive when they work from home,” says Fenton. “Major business leaders across the country say he believes working in an office promotes collaboration and work efficiency.”
BXP also believes Platform 16 is the type of office product that attracts big tech companies.
“We believe that office projects succeed when they have great locations with great places to work,” says Fenton. “Platform 16 provides that.”
CBRE’s commercial real estate brokers Sherman Chan, Mark Schmidt, Mike Charters, and Will Schmidt market technology campuses and seek tenants on behalf of property owners.
“We are meeting unmet demand,” Fenton said. “We believe our project is one of the few catalysts that can revitalize downtown San Jose West. “
BXP executives estimate that the Platform 16 development is generating an average of 150 construction jobs each day. That number is expected to double once construction begins on structures such as garages and office buildings.
“There are hundreds of construction jobs, but after this period the project could lead to thousands of jobs,” said Mayor Ricardo.
When completed, Platform 16 will be able to accommodate 5,500 jobs. Even the first office building could accommodate 2,000 employees.
“There are many people and reasons to doubt downtown San Jose,” Riccardo said. “Smart money is positioned in the downtown future for the long term.”