SAN JOSE — A Fry’s Electronics store in San Jose that closed its doors as part of the sudden implosion of the famed retailer has a new mission while plans for a vast office campus on the choice site take a pause.
Instead of being bulldozed to make way for a tech complex, a portion of the one-time Fry’s building, whose entrance is reminiscent of a Mayan temple, is being offered for lease in a marketing effort being led by brokers Phil Mahoney and Joe Kelly of Newmark, a commercial real estate firm.
“It could be industrial, logistics, or light manufacturing,” said Mahoney, an executive vice chairman with Newmark.
Up to 124,000 square feet of warehouse space is being offered for lease, according to Newmark.
The building totals 293,900 square feet and occupies 19.7 acres, San Jose planning documents show. The building contains the former consumer electronics superstore, a warehouse and an office that served as the corporate headquarters for Fry’s and the San Jose Sabercats arena football team.
The one-time Fry’s featured a facade crafted to resemble a Mayan temple of the type found in Mexico’s ancient city of Chichen Itza. The retail store opened in 1996 and closed in 2021 with the collapse of the Fry’s Electronics chain.
City officials have approved a vast tech campus totaling 1.92 million square feet and consisting of seven eight-story buildings. Despite landing San Jose’s approval, project builder Bay West Development has yet to begin construction.
Given the post-coronavirus uncertainties that loom over the Bay Area office market, it might not be all that surprising that Bay West has yet to launch the development of a major tech campus.
During the first three months of 2023, tech companies have cut a net total of 16,300 jobs in the Bay Area, according to seasonally adjusted estimates that Beacon Economics compiled from the state government’s monthly employment report.
The tech sector also is eyeing even more layoffs. Tech companies in some instances have slashed the office spaces they lease in the Bay Area and other regions. Tech firms have tapped the brakes on the pace of ground-up development projects.
The job cuts and the space retrenchment hint at a waning appetite by tech companies to gobble up new office spaces until they can right-size their current building commitments.
“There isn’t as much demand for office space right now,” Mahoney said.
In contrast, well-located industrial, warehouse and manufacturing buildings have become magnets for an array of firms.
The Fry’s site in north San Jose is near the interchange of Interstate 880 and East Brokaw Road. giving it convenient freeway access.
“We’re getting a lot of interest in leasing the space,” Mahoney said.
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