SAN JOSE — A downtown San Jose residential tower that’s a historic landmark has been bought by a Southern California real estate firm that specializes in apartment communities.
Vintage Tower, an art deco highrise that was constructed in 1928, has been bought by an affiliate controlled by Avanath Capital Management, according to Santa Clara County property documents filed on Oct. 21.
The deal for the apartment tower is a fresh indicator that big-time investors have yet to slake their thirst for opportunities in downtown San Jose.
Irvine-based Avanath Capital is an investment firm that buys, owns, renovates, and operates an array of apartment communities around the United States that are affordable and priced for typical workers, the company’s website states.
The 63-unit Vintage Tower is across the street from San Jose City Hall and is located on a stretch of Santa Clara Street that is gradually attracting more investment and development interest.
“This is a beautiful, old, art deco apartment building,” said Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial, a real estate firm. “It’s a nice bookend to the De Anza Hotel on the west side of Santa Clara Street as far as that art deco style.”
Avanath Capital, acting through affiliate Avanath Vintage Tower, paid $17.3 million for the highrise, the county documents show.
CBRE Multifamily Capital, a unit of commercial real estate firm CBRE, provided $10.3 million in financing to Avanath, according to property documents.
“Downtown San Jose is viewed as a safe harbor for capital from around the country,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use and planning consultancy. “The strength of the downtown San Jose market remains.”
Just a few doors away, Miro, a residential and retail complex of two towers, is under construction on East Santa Clara Street between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.
In September, plans emerged for Eterna Tower, a 26-story residential highrise at 17 E. Santa Clara St.
On the western edges of downtown San Jose, Google has proposed Downtown West, a huge mixed-use neighborhood of office buildings, homes, shops, restaurants, and hotel facilities where the search giant could employ up to 25,000 people.
Adobe has undertaken a dramatic expansion of its downtown headquarters campus with a new office tower on West San Fernando Street.
Veteran and savvy developer Jay Paul Co. has begun construction on a new office tower at 200 Park Ave. and intends to launch a dramatic redevelopment of CityView Plaza across the street. The Preservation Action Council of San Jose this week requested a court order to stop the CityView project.
The just-bought Vintage Tower was originally known as the Medico-Dental Building when development and real estate patriarch Carl N. Swenson constructed the highrise in 1928, according to the Swenson website.
The deal for the historic apartment tower underscores and extends the activity ongoing in the urban core of the Bay Area’s largest city, Ritchie said.
“There is a lot of money trying to buy apartments right now,” Ritchie said. “It’s encouraging to see this ongoing investment interest in downtown San Jose.”
