Sobrato Office Tower

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Sobrato Office Tower
Sobrato Office Tower.jpg
Sobrato Office Tower
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeCommercial offices
Architectural style Postmodern
Location488 Almaden Boulevard
San Jose, California
Coordinates 37°19′38″N121°53′21″W / 37.3272°N 121.8891°W / 37.3272; -121.8891
GroundbreakingFall 2000 [1]
CompletedWinter 2002 [2]
Height
Roof85.3 m (280 ft)
Technical details
Floor count17
3 below ground
Floor area116,200 m2 (1,251,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Korth Sunseri Hagey Architects
References
[3] [4] [5]

Sobrato Office Tower is a 17-story, class-A office building located at 488 Almaden Boulevard in San Jose, California. [6] [7] It is the fourth tallest building in the city. The building was completed in 2002 by Sobrato Real Estate and was designed by KSH Architects [8] . It though remained unoccupied for nine years. [9] In 2007 Sobrato sold the building for $135 million to BEA Systems, which itself was subsequently acquired / purchased by Oracle in 2008. [9] [10]

Contents

On November 17, 2010, it was announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers would lease 209,000 square feet (19,400 m2) on eight floors (levels 10-17) of the building beginning June 2011, thus leaving their 165,000 sq ft (15,300 m2) 10 Almaden Boulevard location in San Jose. [11]

In 2021, shortly after its headquarters moved to Austin, TX from Redwood Shores, Oracle then sold the building for $155 million to PIMCO (global investment management firm) and Lane Partners (a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company that specializes in institutional-quality real estate in Northern California), [12] making a profit of nearly $20 million over the course of its 13 year ownership.

In 5/2025, the building was then sold to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority for $63.7 million, a price that was 60.9% below the property's assessed value of $163.1 million. [13] The VTA stated that they plan move their current headquarters / staff to the building sometime in 2026.

History

At different times, the City of San Jose, Nvidia, Sony, and BEA were each noted publicly to be negotiating to lease space in the building but none of those reported negotiations resulted in a tenancy. [14]

Criticism of the building and possible reasons for its inability to attract tenants have often focused on its location being too far from downtown San Jose. [9] [15]

Chihuly glass sculpture (Lobby)

As part of the initial development, the Sobrato family commission a glass sculpture from artist, Dale Chihuly. It is / was 19 feet tall and hung in the lobby. From photos, it resembled a huge “Pigpen” character in blue, entwining wild strands of glass. (People familiar with Chihuly’s art say such a piece could easily cost between $500,000 and $1 million).

In 2007, after the sale to BEA, the sculpture was apparently taken down and placed into storage. The sculpture apparently remained in storage under Oracle's ownership. As of 2025, it is unclear as to both the whereabouts or ownership of the sculpture. [16]

References

  1. ↑ "Sobrato Office Tower" (PDF). San Jose Redevelopment Agency. January 20, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  2. ↑ Segall, Eli (November 18, 2010). "PwC to move into downtown San Jose's Sobrato Building". Silicon Valley Business Journal . American City Business Journals. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Emporis building ID 138037". Emporis . Archived from the original on March 25, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Sobrato Office Tower". SkyscraperPage .
  5. ↑ Sobrato Office Tower at Structurae
  6. ↑ Staff writers (February 23, 2009). "Oracle Tower Going Sony?". Square Feet Commercial Real Estate Blog. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Sobrato-BEA in talks". The San Jose Business Journal. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  8. ↑ "488 ALMADEN - KSH Architects". December 18, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Katherine Conrad (July 18, 2010). "Deal near on downtown San Jose's biggest vacancy". The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  10. ↑ Aaron Smith (January 16, 2008). "Oracle, BEA Systems in $8.5B software merger". CNNMoney. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  11. ↑ "At last, a tenant in downtown San Jose's Sobrato tower". San Jose Mercury News.
  12. ↑ Isaacson, Greg (May 26, 2021). "Behind Oracle's $155M San Jose Deal". Commercial Property Executive. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  13. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  14. ↑ Katherine Conrad (February 28, 2010). "Long-empty San Jose tower is possible home of Big Four tenant". The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Legacy Partners Drops Sobrato-Oracle-BEA Tower Deal". Square Feet Commercial Real Estate Blog. August 19, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  16. ↑ Herhold, Scott (August 12, 2008). "Herhold: Shedding light on a missing chandelier". The Mercury News . Bay Area News Group . Retrieved June 13, 2025.
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