Hanover Company and SummerHill Homes want to feed a century-old persimmon orchard into the wood-chipper to build more than 1,600 homes in north San Jose.
An affiliate of the Houston-based Hanover paid $78.3 million for the 11-acre Tsukuda Fruit Stand and orchard at 2620 Seely Avenue and 11 acres of land next door, Silicon Valley Business Journal reported. The sellers were Carolyn Sakauye and her sister.
The deal works out to $3.6 million per acre.
“We’re sad that we have quit farming, but the time has come to do so,” Sakauye, whose family has owned the orchard for 118 years, told the newspaper. “There aren’t too many other options.”
Hanover, in turn, sold seven acres to SummerHill, the San Ramon homebuilding division of Marcus & Millichap, based in Calabasas. The $73.6 million deal equals $10.5 million an acre.
SummerHill plans to build 154 townhomes on the parcel, according to Chris Neighbor, SummerHill’s CEO.
Hannover plans to replace its portion of the historic orchard with 1,472 homes, 19,000 square feet of shops and restaurants and a 2.5-acre public park.
Cost and timeline of the Hanover development, including what type of homes it plans to build, were not disclosed. The large number of planned residential units suggests apartments.
Orchard demolition is expected to commence this month. SummerHill aims to have open models of the townhomes ready by winter, Neighbor said.
Fresh produce store Tsukuda Fruit Stand was among San Jose’s last farms in the Santa Clara Valley to be replaced with housing or Silicon Valley offices. The property, purchased by the Sakauye family in 1907, had rows of persimmon trees and berries that harkened back to when the region was known as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.”
Last year, there was no new construction of multifamily market-rate projects larger than 20 units in San Jose, according to the Business Journal.
Hanover Company, founded by Murray Bowden in 1982, has developed multifamily residential and industrial properties in 12 states, including more than 56,000 apartments and $12 billion in project capitalization, according to its website.
Founded in 1976, SummerHill Homes has developed more than 7,000 homes in the Bay Area and Southern California, according to its LinkedIn page.
Correction: This story has been edited to reflect that the $73.6 million deal equals $10.5 million an acre.
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