Downtown San Jose may see the transformation of a once-designated affordable housing project site into a high-tech AI research and development facility. As reported by SF YIMBY, Arena Investors, who took control of the property at 199 Bassett Street following a 2022 foreclosure, has proposed an eight-story building envisioned by C2K Architects. The planned tech hub comes on the heels of the developer's default on the project loan for affordable housing in 2021.
The new project envisions 281,800 square feet, including office, laboratories, and a data center. The previously existing industrial buildings on the lot will be removed to make way for the development, which also pledges to deliver a power substation in the basement and generators capable of meeting the energy-intensive needs of the data center, one of the several proposed data center projects reacting to Silicon Valley's surge in demand for AI technology, and despite the initial affordable housing project never taking root, the development group has committed to building 400 housing units in another downtown location nonetheless, planning documents indicated.
According to details from Silicon Valley, the interior layout seems tailored for extensive data processing. The complex is designed to include two lobbies and a retail space at ground level, with upper stories dedicated to computer hardware for AI research and development; the very top floor is intended to house a cooling water plant for the system.
Looking to expedite the proposal's review process, Dennis Randall, a representative for the property's holder, is making use of San Jose's Innovative Project Pathway Program, which, according to an October 2024 city memo, will "provide a clear policy route for securing approval of innovative investment projects" that offer "an extraordinary benefit to the City of San Jose". The project’s alignment with the city’s technological growth is both a strategic and somewhat inevitable step, echoing the area’s veneration of cutting-edge progress, and not to mention, the developers have pledged additional housing to sweeten the prospect, as per Silicon Valley.
