General Growth On The Chopping Block?

October 4, 2008

Tweet There has been significant amount of talk this past week that General Growth Properties (GGP), the giant shopping mall REIT, could be on the chopping block. GGP’s local San Francisco Bay Area assets include the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco, NewPark Mall in Newark, and Eastridge Mall in San Jose. The REIT also owns [...]

Silicon Valley Office Space Continues to Get Cheaper

September 22, 2008

Tweet Landlords across Silicon Valley are working hard to get space leased, and in the process are offering everything from teaser start rates to bonuses to the brokers. In fact, in the past two months we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of landlords who are looking to entice brokers by providing them [...]

Tesla Motors San Jose Land and Factory Deal: Thanks Government!

September 17, 2008

Tweet Tesla has signed a lease for 89 acres of land in North San Jose off Zanker Road north of highway 237. Tesla is proposing to build a 600,000 square foot headquarters and factory facility. From what is being reported, it seems Tesla got a great deal. Tesla signed a 40-year lease, of which the first [...]

California and Silicon Valley Unemployment Rate Numbers

September 5, 2008

Tweet Numbers today came out for the national unemployment rate, and it is no surprise that the numbers continue to rise. The national rate now stands at 6.1%, a five-year high. These numbers don’t tell us much about California and Silicon Valley, so the graph to the right and data below represent the trends for the [...]

Legacy Partners Drops Sobrato-Oracle-BEA Tower Deal

August 19, 2008

Tweet Rumor is that Legacy couldn’t secure the financing it needed to acquire the Sobrato/Oracle/BEA Tower in downtown San Jose and has dropped its acquisition plans for the 388,000 square foot tower located at 488 Almaden Blvd in Downtown San Jose. DivcoWest which was rumored to be in the running for the building previously is again [...]

Valley Fair Expansion To Begin in January

August 15, 2008

Tweet Westfield Valley Fair, the 1.5 million square feet mall on the border of Santa Clara and San Jose will break ground on a 500,000 square foot expansion in January. At $809 per square foot excluding anchors, the mall is one of the best performing shopping centers in the United States ringing up sales almost [...]

Now San Jose “Leaders” Want To Ban Fast Food Restaurants

August 15, 2008

Tweet It certainly didn’t take long for San Jose councilmemebers to take notice of the Los Angeles city council decision to ban fast food restaurants. Now Nora Campos, Forrest Williams, and Kansen Chu, councilmembers in the City of San Jose are proposing a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants. I’ll try and keep this post from turning [...]

San Jose Reaches a Deal with School District on North San Jose Development

August 6, 2008

Tweet It seems an agreement has been reached between the city of San Jose and San Jose, Santa Clara Union School district officials on the funding of schools in support of the development slated for North San Jose. The agreement averts a decision by the school district to place an initiative on the november ballot [...]

San Jose, Santa Clara Union School District Continue Negotiations on North San Jose Development Fees

August 4, 2008

Tweet The latest offer in the ongoing negotiations between the school district, the City of San Jose, and developers has Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose offering to kick in $75 million in redevelopment funds towards building schools to support the planned developments. The $75 million is in addition to the $58 million developers have [...]

Second Quarter Silicon Valley Commercial Sales Activity

July 29, 2008

Tweet Given the state of the capital markets, it is not surprising to see that the assets which traded hands during the second quarter are far smaller in size than those traded this time last year. A combination of softening rents, dimmer outlook, and a brutal capital markets environment all contributed to the low transaction [...]