Office deal bolsters downtown San Jose market
SAN JOSE — A big telecommunications networking and tech company has leased space in a prominent downtown San Jose office tower, according to public real estate records.
Ciena Corp. has rented office space at 50 West, a highrise located at 50 West San Fernando Street in downtown San Jose, documents on file with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.
The Ciena leasing agreement represents a welcome counterpoint to the dreary landscape of vacant storefronts, empty office sites and underutilized restaurant spaces in downtown San Jose.
Companies are engaged in an uneven return to the office in the wake of government-mandated business lockdowns to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Downtown San Jose’s office vacancy rate was 16.9% during the January-through-March first quarter of 2023, an improvement from the 17% office vacancy level in the October-through-December fourth quarter of 2022, Cresa, a commercial real estate firm, reported.
During both of the survey periods, however, the vacancy rate in downtown San Jose was considerably higher than was the case for Silicon Valley overall, Cresa determined.
Silicon Valley’s office vacancy rate was 14.1% in the first quarter of 2023, which was worse than the 13.2% vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Cresa’s market research.