Investors grab choice downtown San Jose property near Google village sites

SAN JOSE — An increasingly busy investment company has bought choice properties in downtown San Jose that are near the sites of Google’s proposed transit village and the Diridon train station.

Urban Catalyst, the new owner, purchased the existing Hub Cap City and Custom Apparel By Susan Kay’s properties on West San Carlos Street near Josefa Avenue, according to Santa Clara County public documents.

“We love the Diridon Station Area Plan, we like transit-oriented development, and we like that Google is coming into town,” said Erik Hayden, president of Urban Catalyst, a real estate and investment firm. Urban Catalyst was formed to create an opportunity fund to provide development expertise and cash for selected properties in areas that have been designated as opportunity zones. Downtown San Jose and parts of Oakland are in opportunity zones.

Acting through an affiliate, UC Keystone, Urban Catalyst paid $2.8 million for the property, county records filed on June 28 showed.

The parcels involved in the purchase have addresses of 493, 495, 497, and 499 W. San Carlos St.

In numerous communities in the United States, opportunity zones have been enabled by President Donald Trump’s tax-cut initiative. Investors in properties located in opportunity zones can gain tax benefits if they undertake a substantial redevelopment of a site and then retain ownership of the parcels for a required period of time.

What might Urban Catalyst develop at this site, which is on a corner of one of San Jose’s busiest streets?

“We are looking at a variety of things and I can’t pinpoint just yet what we will be doing here,” Hayden said.

Still, plenty of intriguing options come to mind.

“With Google coming in, there’s a bunch of stuff we could do there,” Hayden said. “We’ll look at office development, I’ve done a lot of multifamily residential in that area, there could be a hotel. A variety of uses are possible at that site.