{"id":8715569,"date":"2023-01-13T05:30:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T13:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8715569&preview=true&preview_id=8715569"},"modified":"2023-01-15T11:05:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T19:05:52","slug":"downtown-san-jose-tower-china-real-estate-develop-sale-home-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/13\/downtown-san-jose-tower-china-real-estate-develop-sale-home-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown San Jose housing site owned by Chinese real estate firm goes up for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2014 A downtown San Jose site where highrise housing is being planned has been put up for sale by a China-based real estate firm whose top leaders include a principal executive who has been arrested in London.<\/p>\n

The Pacific, as the residential project is known, is deemed to be in a prime location in downtown San Jose, and has received final city approval.<\/p>\n

CBRE, a veteran commercial real estate firm, has been hired to market the choice property. CBRE executive vice president Jef Henderson and first vice president Jon Teel are leading the sales effort. CBRE executives Andrew Behrens and Jesse Weber are providing debt and finance expertise in the selling endeavor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis property is in the epicenter of growth and development in downtown San Jose,\u201d Teel said.<\/p>\n

\"708-unit
708-unit residential tower at 60 \u2013 70 South Almaden Avenue in downtown San Jose, street-level view, concept. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The highrise housing is being eyed on a property that\u2019s a former Greyhound bus terminal on the corner of South Almaden Avenue and Post Street.<\/p>\n

Despite the apparent advantages of the site as a housing development, the project\u2019s principal owner and developer, Z&L Properties, has yet to break ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting the Greyhound station site on the market and a transaction to buy it is inevitable,\u201d said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy. \u201cIf you look at their track record, Z&L just doesn\u2019t have the wherewithal to develop properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

The developer\u2019s inability to break ground fits a pattern. Z&L Properties has struggled mightily with its Bay Area property portfolio, which is located primarily in downtown San Jose and San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The China-based company has completed just one Bay Area project, a double-tower housing highrise in downtown San Jose near San Pedro Square with roughly 640 units. Only one tower is available for occupancy.<\/p>\n

The company has also proposed a pair of housing highrises and the revamp and rescue of a historic church at 252 N. First St. in San Jose. Neither tower has been built and the old church is covered by a tattered black tarp.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Z&L Properties yielded ownership of one of its development sites, a 1.6-acre property near the corner of Terraine Street and Bassett Street. Z&L\u2019s plans for a big residential tower at that location had stalled.<\/p>\n

An alliance led by global developer Westbank, local developer Gary Dillabough, and San Jose-based Terrascape \u2014 a firm headed by real estate veterans Tony Arreola and Mark Lazzarini \u2014 paid $11.4 million for the choice Terraine Street parcel. The property is in a downtown district known as the North San Pedro neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The Greyhound terminal site that\u2019s up for sale has received final approval from the city for the development of 708 housing units. The property\u00a0has addresses ranging from 60 to 70 South Almaden Avenue in San Jose.<\/p>\n

The attempt to sell the Greyhound site arrives at an uncertain time for Z&L Properties.<\/p>\n

Zhang Li, a real estate tycoon and principal executive with Z&L Properties, was detained in London in December 2022 in connection with a U.S. investigation into possible kickbacks and bribery involving a project in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

A court in London was told last month that Zhang was wanted in the United States over an investigation into the payment of bribes to San Francisco city officials linked to the granting of permits for a project in that city.<\/p>\n

Despite the legal turmoil that swirls around Zhang, the prospects could be favorable for the bus terminal development site.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one of the most dense development sites\u201d in downtown San Jose, \u201cthis will be the future anchor of a whole neighborhood spiraling around the old Greyhound site,\u201d said Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial, a real estate firm.<\/p>\n

A new owner of the Greyhound property would control a site near and next to several office towers whose occupants might want to live near their workplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to have 50,000 people coming into downtown San Jose every weekday and then 50,000 people leaving every night,\u201d Teel, the CBRE executive, said. \u201cYou want people to be able to live, work and play downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the existing and future office projects in downtown San Jose that could bolster the new housing development:<\/p>\n