Super Micro Computer, an emerging technology company with sales of more than $7 billion, is occupying a 20-acre site that was once home to Fry's Electronics, a landmark consumer store in North San Jose known for its Mayan-themed décor. The city has acquired and permitted the construction of a 1.9 million square meter office campus.
The San Jose-based information technology company purchased the site from an affiliate of Bay West Development for $80 million, according to a reported SEC filing. san jose mercury news.
Last January, the City of Bay West approved San Jose Plans to build a residential complex consisting of seven eight-story office buildings on the site of an electronics retailer at 550 East Brokaw Road near the Interstate 880 interchange. obtained from the committee. Also approved were two parking facilities covering 1.65 million SF.
But plans for BayWest changed last May, when the developer approached Newmark to lease up to 124,000 square feet of space at Fry's, which closed in 2021 following the bankruptcy of Fry's Electronics. . This electronics store, shaped like a Mayan temple, opened in 1996.
Existing buildings on the site span 294,000 SF, including warehouses and offices that served as headquarters for the Flies and San Jose SaberCats arena football teams.
Newmark marketed the property in May for industrial or light industrial use, citing a decline in demand for office space due to layoffs by Bay Area tech companies.
Supermicro, headquartered about a mile away at 980 Rock Avenue, leased warehouse space on Fry's property.
In its SEC filing, Supermicro sent a strong signal that it intends to follow through on its original plan to demolish the Fries building and replace it with a massive technology office campus.
“The seller has previously acquired any rights to the potential redevelopment of the property as an office campus, which the company has acquired under the purchase agreement,” the filing states. mercury news report.
Speaking of that, mercury newsSupermicro acquired the newspaper's headquarters in 2013 and moved it from Ridder Park Drive to downtown San Jose.
In 2018, Super Micro redeveloped the property and built a new office and research building. Tech companies call it a “green computing campus.” The East Brokaw Road site will be Super Micro's third office campus in San Jose.
