By Sharon Simonson and Jon Peterson
Belmont-based Embarcadero Capital Partners has acquired one of downtown San Jose’s most prominent office developments in a deed-in-lieu foreclosure with Foster City’s Legacy Partners Commercial.
The three-building Almaden Financial Plaza is approximately 415,000 square feet at Almaden Boulevard and West Santa Clara Street, the first major intersection in downtown after drivers exit state Highway 85 at the Santa Clara exchange. The buildings range in height from eight stories to 12 stories and have panoramic views of downtown and Silicon Valley.
According to public records on file with the Santa Clara Clerk Recorder, Legacy relinquished its control of 1 Almaden Blvd., 55 Almaden Blvd. and 99 Almaden Blvd. on Aug. 10 granting its ownership rights to Embarcadero Capital.
Legacy acquired the property in 2007, relying on $110.2 million in debt from Lehman Brothers FSB, which acted as an agent for other lenders and as a co-lender, according to county records.
Embarcadero Capital amended the deed of trust between Lehman and Legacy on the same day it recorded the deed in lieu of foreclosure to reflect a $73.2 million mezzanine loan against the property.
Neither Embarcadero Capital nor Legacy Partners responded to phone calls or emails for comment.
Almaden Financial Plaza was built in phases between 1979 and 1983 and received a $9 million renovation in 2007.
Brandon Bain, a partner with Cassidy Turley in its San Jose office, will lead a new leasing team for the project under a contract signed last week with Embarcadero Capital. Almaden Financial Plaza is approximately 85 percent occupied, which is better than downtown San Jose offices overall, according to Colliers International.
At the end of September, there were not quite 1.9 million square feet of available office space in downtown San Jose, on a building base of 7.6 million square feet. That translates to a vacancy rate of not quite 25 percent, Colliers said. That’s down slightly from earlier this year but little improved from a year ago.
Weighted average asking rents have remained flat over the past year at $2.30 a square foot including costs such as property taxes and common-area maintenance.
