Westbank Expands Shift from Offices to Homes in San Jose

Westbank has replace plans for office towers in Downtown San Jose with more than 1,100 homes.

The Canada-based developer has revised its plans to build three, 30-story housing towers at 300 South First Street and 345 South Second Street in the SoFa District, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The plan replaces a 2021 proposal by Westbank and locally based Urban Community to build two 10-story towers with more than 1 million square feet of offices and shops at a property known as the Valley Title site.

The revised proposal would construct three highrises with 1,147 homes near South First and East San Carlos streets in the heart of the hip South First Area. It’s not clear if Urban Community is still involved in the project, or whether the developer plans apartments or for-sale condos.

“This part of Downtown San Jose has seen a steady stream of development over the last 10 years, and we are enthusiastic to be part of this evolution,” Andrew Jacobson, principal executive for U.S. operations at Westbank, based in Vancouver, told the Mercury News.

Westbank, a major property owner in Downtown San Jose led by Ian Gillespie, has made it clear it wants to push forward with large projects, with a pivot from offices to homes. Local allies have included Urban Community, led by Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga; and Terrascape Ventures, led by Tony Arreola and Mark Lazzarini.

A wide-scale shift to remote work by tech firms during the pandemic led to a vast number of empty offices. The vacancy in Downtown San Jose was 35.6 percent in the first quarter, according to Savills.

In August, Westbank traded an approved plan for a 14-story office building in Downtown San Jose for an 18-story residential tower at 255 West Julian Street.

Then the developer drew revised plans to build a 21-story tower with 768 apartments at 35 South Second Street. The proposal nixed plans by Westbank and Urban Community to build a 750,000-square-foot tower with 194 apartments and 368,000 square feet of offices.

In March, Westbank, Urban Community and Terrascape Ventures were poised to get final approval for a 17-story, 345-unit apartment highrise at 23 Terraine Street, in San Jose’s North San Pedro.

In January, Westbank and Urban Community were poised to break ground on a 540-unit apartment tower at 409 South Second Street, in the SoFa district. It’s one of three environmentally friendly tower proposals by the joint venture in Downtown.

Westbank and Urban Community have begun converting the century-old, 13-story Bank of Italy building into as many as 150 units at 12 South First Street. The Mediterranean Revival and Beaux-Arts landmark, designed by Henry Minton, was built in 1926 for the Bank of Italy, the forerunner of Bank of America.

— Dana Bartholomew