San Jose is gearing up to put real pressure on the owner of a foreclosed downtown parcel that city inspectors say has slid into plain-view blight. The skinny lot at 27 South First Street, once cleared for a 24-story, 374-unit tower, has sat idle since the project fell apart, and neighbors have been complaining about rats, trash and graffiti piling up along the sidewalk. After months of watching the property, city staff say they are now weighing fines and other enforcement moves.
According to The Mercury News, a March 10 inspection found that all blight conditions are visible from the public right-of-way and flagged a broken rear door and accumulating refuse. The outlet reports that San Jose first sent a pre-citation warning to the then-owner in May 2022, then placed the site into its Vacant Building Monitoring Program in August 2022 after graffiti complaints. Inspectors conducted monthly check-ins through October 2025, and the city has issued multiple citations for basic maintenance and safety violations.
The Real Deal reported that the property changed hands in late October 2025 through a deed in lieu of foreclosure and is now controlled by TDA Investment Group via an affiliate. That coverage links the foreclosure to a delinquent loan associated with Copia Lending and notes that the site remained vacant despite earlier city approvals. At the time of transfer, the outstanding debt was reported at roughly $13.9 million.
What inspectors documented
Under the city’s rules, the Vacant Building Monitoring Program requires owners of certain empty properties to register, submit to inspections and pay fees, as laid out in City of San José documents. The goal is to keep vacant buildings secure and maintained and to give staff clear enforcement tools when owners fall short. In this case, city staff say the current owner has been hit with five citations and that the parcel has been tracked through monthly inspections.
Owner's response
In correspondence with the city, TDA Investment Group told officials it launched active rodent remediation in November 2025 and wrote that shortly after the legal acquisition, we became aware of a significant rodent infestation that limited safe access to portions of the building. The company asked San Jose to reverse its decision to keep the property in the monitoring program and later said the building is fully secured and under the supervision of a professional property manager, according to The Mercury News. Inspectors, however, maintain that blight conditions are still visible from the public way, and city staff say they plan to confirm any remediation work before changing the site’s status.
Enforcement options and fines
San Jose has a range of tools to prod or compel owners to clean up troubled properties, from registration fees to civil enforcement actions. In recent months, council members have moved to stiffen those penalties, giving staff more leverage with chronic problem sites. As SFGATE noted, fines for blighted properties can now climb as high as $10,000 per day in some cases, a price tag that tends to get an owner’s attention.
Why this matters
What happens at 27 South First Street is about more than one scruffy building. City officials see it as a test case for downtown’s broader recovery and for other stalled projects that were supposed to bring hundreds of new residents into the urban core. The parcel was long tied to the Tower 27 concept, and earlier local coverage tracked efforts to lure small investors into the deal through a high-rise pitch to everyday investors. For now, city staff says inspections will continue and that stronger penalties are still on the table if visible blight and safety concerns are not fully addressed.
