San Jose pilots high-rise to housing conversion
San Jose is launching a pilot program to convert nearly 200 units in a downtown commercial high-rise into housing for middle-income earners. The initiative reflects a growing trend in metropolitan areas to repurpose existing office towers for residential use. This type of adaptive reuse project addresses urban housing needs through sustainable, high-density solutions.
- San Jose's program incentivizes developers by waiving construction taxes and inclusionary housing fees for the first 500 units converted, and partially reducing parkland fees. To qualify, buildings must have been built before 2021 and cannot be Class A office space, targeting older, underperforming building stock for conversion. - A prominent example of this trend is Jay Paul Co.'s plan to transform the CityView Plaza downtown. The project aims to convert four office buildings into 320 homes and later add a 27-story residential tower with 360 more units, making it one of the largest office-to-residential conversions in the country. - While no office-to-housing conversions have been completed in San Jose to date, the city has a pipeline of 1,173 potential apartments from adaptive reuse projects. The city estimates that the owners of four properties, totaling 611 potential new homes, have already expressed interest in the incentive program. - This type of adaptive reuse is a key sustainable design trend for 2026, alongside climate-responsive design that orients structures to optimize sun and wind, and the use of computational design and AI to create more efficient and adaptable urban frameworks. - Top architecture firms like Gensler and HOK prioritize internship candidates with strong technical skills in Revit, Rhino, and Adobe Creative Suite. Portfolios should demonstrate not just final renderings but also the design process, problem-solving abilities, and an interest in emerging technologies like generative AI. - Beyond software proficiency, leading firms seek interns who understand integrated sustainable design, with knowledge of LEED guidelines being a highly valued credential, particularly for U.S.-based practices. - Another successful adaptive reuse project in San Jose involved San José State University converting a former Hilton hotel into "Spartan Village," a residence for nearly 700 students. This $33 million project was completed in less than five months, significantly faster than new construction would have allowed.
