Diridon Station Area to Become Innovation Hub

SAN JOSE—The entitlement of a 1 million-square-foot commercial office campus near Diridon Station in downtown signals the kick-off of a project to be known as Platform 16. Groundbreaking is expected to start in 2019 with a delivery date in 2021, according to TMG-VOP Julian LLC, a joint venture between San Francisco-based TMG Partners and San Jose-based Valley Oak Partners LLC.

The site was previously identified as 440 West Julian St. The conceptual development plan for the property was first submitted by the TMG Partners-Valley Oak Partners venture to the city as part of a preliminary review application in July 2017.

“I thank the teams at TMG Partners and Valley Oak Partners for this significant investment in our downtown,” said San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo. “This planned development will help bring thousands of jobs into our city center with easy access to public transit, and include a number of public space improvements that will help connect the Guadalupe River Park to Platform 16 and the rest of the Diridon Station area.”

The entire 5.43-acre site, currently comprised of several industrial buildings and surface parking lots, is bounded by North Autumn Street to the west, West Julian Street to the south, and the recently opened Autumn Parkway to the east, and lies within the Innovation District of the Diridon Station Area Plan.

“The area around Diridon Station is poised to become our mega-region’s next major innovation hub,” said Michael Covarrubias, TMG’s CEO and chairman. “Platform 16 is well aligned with the Diridon Station Area Plan’s bold framework to integrate open space, transportation and development to meet the evolving needs of the region’s technology and business community and its employees.”

The urban campus, designed by New York-based Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, lead architects of the 28-acre 12.7-million-square-foot Hudson Yards project in New York City, involves the development of three office buildings and below-grade parking. The six-story buildings are 157,000 square feet, 367,000 square feet and 499,000 square feet, and have views toward downtown San Jose. The buildings will feature floorplates ranging from 25,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet, as well as 15-foot floor-to-floor heights and 16 large private terraces spread throughout the complex.

GlobeSt.com learns that the ground-level plazas between the buildings will provide room for bikeshare drop-off points and bike parking for use on Guadalupe River Park. The development has pedestrian and bicycle access to the park across Autumn Parkway and is a short walk to the restaurants at San Pedro Square and San Jose’s financial center.

It is also near Diridon Station, San Jose’s intermodal transportation hub consisting of Caltrain, VTA light-rail and the ACE train, along with planned BART and California high-speed rail, and is close to the SAP Center. Retail and restaurant amenities are convenient to the site with the 339,000-square-foot San Jose Market Center next door, Little Italy’s restaurants a block away and Whole Foods Market on The Alameda also nearby.

“We are broadening the concept of sustainability beyond just making the project LEED Gold,” Richard Watkins, partner with TMG, tells GlobeSt.com. “We’re also focusing on the wellness of the development’s occupants by designing healthy spaces that can elevate the wellness of the building and those who work there.”

GlobeSt.com learns that the buildings will have staircases between floors to promote exercise, along with a planned fitness and wellness center. The design of 16 sizeable terraces on every floor of the three buildings brings the outside directly into the workspaces.

Platform 16 is being marketed by Mark Schmidt, Mike Charters and Will Schmidt at CBRE.

“Large technology companies today realize the importance of their space to attract talent and retain employees,” said Mark Schmidt, managing director at CBRE. “Platform 16’s unique architecture, with its exceptionally tall ceiling heights, expansive floorplates and multiple outdoor terraces, brings a level of design to San Jose not seen before, providing an opportunity for companies to create a workplace that sets them apart from the competition.”

TMG has been increasingly active in the San Jose office market. In 2013, TMG and Fortress Investment Group purchased an eight-building 810,000-square-foot campus from Cisco Systems. The partnership subsequently sold four buildings to an investor in late 2014, while simultaneously executing a renovation of the building exteriors, interiors and common area amenities on the balance of the project. Reintroducing the remaining four buildings to the market in late 2014 as Champion Station, TMG closed on the sale in the summer of 2016 in two separate transactions, one building to a corporate owner-user and three buildings to an investor. In August 2016, TMG acquired 2460 and 2480 N. First St., a two-building 148,000-square-foot commercial property that TMG is currently renovating and leasing.

All told, TMG Partners has developed more than 25 million square feet of property throughout the Bay Area. Projects include office, retail, residential and industrial properties, ranging from office campus and multi-story properties in urban, infill locations to mixed-use retail and single-story suburban buildings.

Valley Oak Partners was founded in 2008 and since that time has acquired, redeveloped or is processing entitlements on more than 2,300 residential units and approximately 1,500,000 square feet of commercial development.