SAN JOSE — The Olivera family has officially ended seven decades of ownership of an egg ranch in San Jose by selling the property for several million dollars to a housing developer that plans to put a residential project on the property.

A family partnership sold the Olivera Egg Ranch property for $12 million, according to documents filed on Sept. 16 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

Chickens eat feed at Olivera Egg Ranch at 3315 Sierra Road in San Jose, February 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Robson Homes bought the 2.7-acre site at 3315 Sierra Road in the Berryessa district of east San Jose, county records show. Robson purchased the property through an all-cash deal.

The homebuilder has been interested in the property for years. In 2021, Robson Homes struck a deal with the Olivera family to buy the ranch, county records show.

Ed Olivera Jr. and his wife, Anna Olivera, in their live bird barn at Olivera Egg Ranch at 3315 Sierra Road in San Jose, February 2025. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Edward Olivera Jr., the principal trustee of the family trust that sold the ranch site, said he became concerned in recent years about the increasingly volatile nature of the egg business.

The 2020 coronavirus outbreak, government-ordered shutdowns, egg surpluses, and the H5N1 bird flu virus variant, which were capped by soaring egg prices in 2024 due to inflation, underscored the uncertainties in the egg business in Olivera Jr.’s view.

The economic whipsaws were a big factor in ultimately deciding to complete the sale to Robson Homes.

“I was getting kind of concerned,” Olivera Jr. said in an interview with this news organization. “What if something happens to me? No one has the knowledge of the business. I had it all. Still have it all. My family would be left literally holding the bag.”

A 25-unit housing development is expected to be built on the egg ranch site, according to San Jose city planning documents.

The great majority of the units would be two-story homes. A few units would be 2.5 stories, planning files show.

“The size of the units would range between 2,100 square feet and 3,335 square feet,” according to a February 2025 initial study of the project’s environmental impact.

Up to five of the 25 residences would include an accessory dwelling unit, according to the project proposal. The ADUs would be about 444 square feet in size.

The timeline for the project’s development and completion wasn’t immediately known.

The egg ranch closed in March.

“It’s tough leaving the business,” Olivera Jr. said. “I’m leaving the memories. It’s all tied in with my parents.”