SAN JOSE — A downtown San Jose site of blight where a student housing tower is proposed has been put up for sale, leaving the property’s future up in the air.
The property, located at 100 through 152 North Fourth Street next to East St. John Street, is being offered for sale. San Jose officials had previously approved a student housing project at the site.
Asking price: $35 million, according to a marketing flyer that’s now in circulation.
23-story student housing project at 100 North Fourth Street in downtown San Jose, concept. (LPMD Architects)
Fires, a fatal drive-by shooting, and a dog attack have haunted the site, where a 23-story student housing tower has been approved but has yet to break ground.
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Now, Saratoga-based business executive Brent Lee, who owns the property through an affiliate, has begun to scout for a buyer to purchase the one-acre site at the corner of North Fourth Street and East St. John Street.
Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate firm, is attempting to find a buyer for the property, according to a marketing brochure that was obtained by this news organization.
The property offers the opportunity for a buyer to own a site that’s approved for a housing highrise, the marketing materials state. Marcus & Millichap brokers Kirk Trammell and Joshua Johnson are leading the sales effort.
The 23-story residential tower would contain 298 units of student housing and include 8,400 square feet of ground-floor retail spaces, documents on file with San Jose city planners show.
City planners also have approved four levels of parking containing enough space for 287 vehicles and 426 bikes.
In recent years, multiple fires wrecked a pair of Victorian homes that were on the property. Lee had agreed to relocate the old houses, but the fires occurred before the move could occur.
For several months after the blazes, the fire-scorched debris of the Victorians littered the development site.
City officials swept in to place the property into a court-ordered receivership in order to clear away the debris and toxic materials that were present at the site, such as asbestos and lead.
The site is now cleared of the debris, has a 24-hour camera in place to monitor the property, and is fenced off to discourage homeless camping. Investigators believe one or more homeless individuals caused some of the fires, including at least one fire in the two Victorian houses.
The North Fourth Street fires, which broke out in March 2024 and August 2024, have created serious hazards for people living next door and near the fire-torched sites, according to court papers filed by Jay Huang, the operating manager of Sunding Brothers LLC, which owns a property next to the blighted vacant lots.
The March 2024 fire leveled two abandoned Victorian-era homes on the blighted lot, fire officials reported. The August fire ignited the stacks of wood and debris left behind from the earlier blaze.
The August 2024 blaze forced some people to flee as the flames menaced their homes, witnesses told this news organization. One teenage girl suffered smoke inhalation and had to be treated at a hospital, court records show.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the asking price of $35 million conforms with similar empty properties in San Jose.
