The third time may prove a charm for the Muller family of Lou's Village fame.
After two deals to sell their former restaurant site to home builders fell through over the last two years, the Mullers have entered into an agreement to sell the 5-acre tract to the Bay Area's SummerHill Homes.
The deal is supposed to close in January. Tim Muller did not disclose a purchase price, but did say they have received "substantial deposits" from SummerHill, giving him confidence the deal will close at last.
SummerHill plans to stick with the current plans for the property, which abuts San Jose's San Carlos Street between downtown and Interstate 880, says Mr. Muller. Those plans call for 95 townhomes, with 11 live-work units abutting San Carlos and a 20 percent affordability component. The notion is to maintain the generally commercial flavor of San Carlos by having small businesses, such as accountants and lawyers, front the street with living quarters behind.
SummerHill, an active South Bay builder, thinks the site and the homes' anticipated $600,000s price points make a good match for the market today, says Joe Head, SummerHill president and chief executive.
The market isn't what it was a year and a half ago, he admits, but that doesn't mean there isn't opportunity. Buyers continue to show interest in what Mr. Head describes as the "mid-town" area of San Jose -- near to downtown -- and appear to like the rejuvenation the central city is seeing.
Mr. Muller is now working as a vice president for Alliance Title, helping to beef up its commercial title business.
San Jose ready to sell lot near old city hall
The City of San Jose intends to sell a parking lot near the old city hall building for residential development in a deal that is expected to top $27 million.
The 7.45-acre property, known as the E-lot, lies between North San Pedro Street and the Guadalupe freeway just south of the San Jose Police Department.
It would be the first attempt by the city to dispose of a portion of the property it all but vacated in August 2005 when it moved into the new City Hall on Santa Clara Street.
The city's plans were disclosed Aug. 31 when the San Jose City Council met with the Santa Clara County Supervisors to discuss the future of the old city hall site and other matters. The old city hall site is adjacent to the county government complex.
The estimated value of the land was contained in an appraisal dated Aug. 24 that assumes a high density residential zoning. Deputy City Manager Dan McFadden said the land has the potential for 17 to 65 housing units per acre. The $27 million is a conservative estimate based on 30 units per acre, he said.
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The plan is not a done deal. First, the city must decide if it wants to sell all the property or keep about three acres now used for parking for the police department. Leaving out that three acre section, which fronts on Mission Street, a sale would net just $17 million. The process is expected to take 18 months, Mr. McFadden said.
RREEF buys Summerwood Apartments
Money manager RREEF has acquired a Santa Clara apartment complex for $105 million, or $224,000 for each unit sold.
The deal is among the largest in Santa Clara County as measured by dollar value and the size of the 468-unit Summerwood Apartments.
RREEF, which has a main office in San Francisco and is part of the Deutsche Bank Group, intends to undertake a large-scale renovation of the complex, which is more than 30 years old.
Pasadena-based Hoffman Associates was the seller. It was the only asset that Hoffman retained in the Bay Area. Privately-held Hoffman had owned and operated the apartment complex since its construction in 1970.
The seller was represented by CB Richard Ellis' Bill Huberty, Matt Holmes and John Eichelberger out of San Francisco.
Jay Paul to sell Pacific Shores Center
Jay Paul Co. is selling its Pacific Shores Center in Redwood City, a 1.7 million square-foot, waterfront office campus where PDL BioPharma Inc. recently announced it was moving its headquarters.
The San Francisco developer has retained brokerage Eastdil Secured as its exclusive advisor for the deal.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 6, PDL said it had agreed to sublease just over 283,000 square feet at Pacific Shores from Openwave Systems Inc. through April 2013. From that date until December 2021, it agreed to lease the property directly from Jay Paul.
In total, Pacific Shores is 84 percent leased, according to offering documents that Eastdil is circulating announcing that the property has come on the market. Those documents do not include an offering price.
According to Jay Paul's Web site, Pacific Shores was a $500 million development and sits on 106 acres. The complex includes a 130-acre wetlands preservation project and more than $30 million in infrastructure costs.
Westcore buys Mission Falls Business Park
San Diego-based Westcore Properties, an active buyer in the Bay Area since it entered the market in 2004, has acquired Mission Falls Business Park in Fremont for $11.2 million.
The seller was Mission Falls LLC of Pleasanton.
The property includes three buildings with 128,000 square feet on 7.7 acres.
Two of the three buildings are vacant, and Westcore plans an extensive interior renovation, including division into offices of 1,500 to 5,000 square feet. The company plans to sell the units as condominiums.
Westcore's financial partner in the deal is Buchanan Street Partners. Its lender is Countrywide Financial.
The deal was brokered by Colin Feitchtmeir, Tyler Kemp, Kent Hillhouse and Steve Horton, all of Santa Clara's CPS Commercial Property Services.
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/09/11/newscolumn3.html?page=3
