SAN JOSE—As the year winds to a close, it ends with significant activity in Silicon Valley. As reported last week, DivcoWest and its joint venture partner Rockpoint Group completed the purchase of Riverpark Towers, a 600,000-square-foot class-A downtown office complex near Diridon Station for a recorded price of $283.5 million or $473 per square foot.

GlobeSt.com has learned of several other significant recent transactions in San Jose that are contributing to the ongoing stimulus underway there.

Approximately $200 million in financing was obtained for the acquisition of HQ@first, a three-building creative office tower property that totals 603,666 square feet and is located at 110, 120 and 130 Holger Way. NKF Capital Markets vice chairman Ramsey Daya and managing director Chris Moritz executed the financing on behalf of the buyer, Lane Partners and its capital partner. The loan was placed with Blackstone Mortgage Trust.

Built in 2010, the class-A property is situated on slightly less than 10 acres at the intersection of Highway 237 and North First Street. The LEED Gold-certified project features a campus environment with landscaped paths, natural light, views of the Bay and hills, outdoor barbecue and patio areas, basketball court, fitness center and locker rooms, a game room, an expansive executive business center and a 300-plus seat cafeteria.

“HQ@first is truly a trophy asset that is San Jose's most walkable and amenitized campus,” says Daya. “We see this project gaining even more momentum and value over the coming years as the Silicon Valley market continues its upward growth.”

HQ@first is adjacent to multiple VTA light rail stations that connect to Caltrain, Amtrak, ACE and eventually BART. The property offers generous parking and immediate access to a restaurant, retail and hotel amenity base with the @first retail center across the street. @first tenants include Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, Five Guys, Panera, Coffee Bean, CVS, Target, Chase, Courtyard by Marriott and Hyatt House.

A 1,841-unit multifamily property, The Woods, has obtained $200 million in refinancing. Berkadia senior managing director Mitch Thurston and managing director Andy Ahlers of the San Francisco office secured the refinancing loan through a global financial institution. The borrower was The Woods of San Jose LLC. Located at 4300 The Woods Dr., the property offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Within the community, there are six unique “villages” offering various amenities. The Woods is a short drive from downtown via California State Route 87 and Interstate 101.

The Dow Hotel Company announced the joint venture acquisition with an institutional investor of the 354-room Holiday Inn San Jose–Silicon Valley for an undisclosed purchase price. Dow also will operate the hotel and oversee an approximately $15 million renovation to upgrade the restaurant, exterior and entrance, as well as certain guestroom improvements.

Located at 1350 North 1st St., the hotel is slightly more than a mile from San Jose International Airport and proximate to Levi Stadium and Santa Cruz, CA. The hotel provides an outdoor pool, recently renovated and expanded fitness center and on-site laundry. It has nearly 13,000 square feet of flexible meeting space including a 10,220-square foot ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,200 people.

OPTIS has opened a five-person lab facility at the Prospect Silicon Valley facility in San Jose. This French software company specializes in managing light and optics is bringing virtual and augmented reality techniques to car design, which has previously been a labor- and resource-intensive part of bringing a new model to market.

For the last several months, Optis' West Coast team has been working out of an office near Mineta San Jose International Airport, but the plan is to grow to 30 people in the next two to three years, GlobeSt.com learns. The company has two products: software that simulates light movement in a car's environment, and software that produces a virtual version of a car's environments and interiors.

Vector, a nanosatellite launch company comprised of new space and enterprise software industry veterans, is opening a new office to expand its current business operations throughout the West Coast, at 100 Century Center Ct. in North San Jose. The new facility is the company's first office addition since beginning operations in 2016 and it will house a software engineering team responsible for the development of satellites for GalacticSky.

“San Jose has not been home to a launch vehicle company since the 1960s and with our new office, we are excited to bring aerospace back to the area,” said Shaun Coleman, chief sales and marketing officer of Vector.

Instant Insights /

Tech, Office and Hotels Clamor for Silicon Valley

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