The Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority is moving into a new home in downtown San Jose.
The VTA has completed its purchase of the 17-story Almaden Crossing tower at 488 South Almaden Boulevard for $63.7 million, The Mercury Times reported. EQ Office, owned by the New York-based Blackstone Group, sold the property along with Menlo Park-based Lane Partners and Newport Beach-based PIMCO.
It marks a major price cut from what the building sold for just a few years ago. The buyers paid $153.7 million for the property in 2021.
The recent sale marks a 58.6 percent drop from four years ago and is 60.9 percent below the property’s $163.1 million assessed value.
Jessie O’Malley Solis, the VTA’s director of real estate and transit-oriented development, noted it was a steal.
“This was probably a once-in-a-lifetime deal in terms of the purchase price,” Solis told The Mercury News. “Our agency was aware of the state of the office market right now.”
The agency also believes the relocation will be a boon to the local economy.
“We will have 500 to 600 daily employees in the South Almaden office building,” Solis said. “That will definitely enliven the area.” The workers will have access to a gym and a lounge on site.
The tower is next to the San Jose Convention Center and across the street from a proposed tech campus development site currently on the market from BXP. VTA plans to demolish its current headquarters at 3331 North First Street near River Oaks Parkway in north San Jose to make space for up to 1,300 homes.
Before the VTA moves into its new digs next year, it will give the place a facelift. The agency was authorized to spend up to $43.4 million on “the buildout and completion of necessary tenant improvements at the future VTA headquarters,” per The Mercury News.
The transit agency isn’t slowing down on its development projects across the city. Last week, the agency and San Jose officials broke ground on a new interim housing site at VTA’s Cerone Yard train depot. The government partnership with the VTA will bring a 200-unit tiny home community to the site by the end of this year.
— Chris Malone Méndez