According to a recent article from The Mercury News, the San Jose Stage Company has purchased a property in downtown San Jose. As the article explains, this transaction practically guarantees the rise of the arts and nightlife neighborhood while solidifying the theater’s future as an anchor of the district and simultaneously paving the path for a new hotel in the area.
The theater company reportedly paid $2.3 million to a government agency in exchange for the property at 490 S. First St in San Jose, according to property documents that were filed with Santa Clara County. These same documents indicate that multiple entities chipped in for the deal, and the seller was the Successor Agency to the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo was quoted in the article, saying, “It’s vitally important that cornerstone arts organizations like San Jose Stage have a permanent home to be sustainable and competitive.”
Development company, Swenson, provided a mortgage of nearly $1.9 million to help fund the purchase, according to public records. A second mortgage from Santa Clara County totals $435,000. Additionally, the City of San Jose provided a $1 million grant to the Stage Company to help pay for items the theater will need over the next several years.
Jerry Strangis, a Bay Area real estate developer and land consultant who is a board member of the San Jose Stage Company, was also quoted, saying, “The city and the county are being very much supportive and helpful. The city is happy with this and the county is happy.”
Currently, the Stage Company operates in a 200-seat theater at South First and East William streets in the South First Arts district of downtown San Jose, but plans are being discussed to enable a dramatic expansion of the theater’s capacity.
Strangis said, “We are looking at a model that would potentially have a theater with up to 350 seats.”
With the current theater measuring about 6,700 square feet, the expansion would allow a 20,000 square-foot performing arts center.
Additionally, according to an agreement that’s been reached in connection with the property purchase and mortgages, this project would also involve Swenson developing a hotel tower on the property. Eventually, a two-level theater will operate on the ground floors of the mixed-use development, and the hotel would be eight stories high.
As Strangis went on to explain, “This is all very preliminary. It will take a couple of years before we break ground. We also have to find a place for the theater while the construction is underway.”
The city’s $1 million grant would finance seats, lighting, and sound systems, and the Stage Company also intends to launch a fundraiser pay for additional equipment.
Liccardo expressed his enthusiasm for the project, saying, “We look forward to seeing what can emerge with a public-private partnership that would add to downtown San Jose’s growing vibrancy.”
(Read the original article on The Mercury News.)
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