SAN JOSE — A mega campus in downtown San Jose is mired in a lawsuit filed by a group that claims the office complex would endanger the local environment, court papers show.
The Sierra Club filed the litigation against the city of San Jose, claiming that the municipality violated its own planning rules when it approved the tech campus at 235 Woz Way near Almaden Boulevard, according to documents filed with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
According to city planning documents, the lawsuit is preventing the development of the project. It was proposed by Boston Properties. It would provide 1.73 million square footage of office space and ground-floor retail. The towers, which are connected by a podium, will rise on a 3.6-acre plot.
The curving office project would be located near the Guadalupe River banks, between the Childrens Discovery Museum and San Jose Convention Center.
“The project comes at a substantial environmental cost,” the Sierra Club stated in court papers. “The project would crowd the Guadalupe River trail and riparian area with an imposing 16-story office tower.”
San Jose officials, however, stated that the open spaces and river areas next to the project are not significant habitats for wildlife, according to an August 2021 memo prepared by Chris Burton, San Jose’s planning director.
“This reach of the Guadalupe River is highly fragmented with very little undisturbed habitat due to the highly urbanized surrounding environment and human-related disturbances,” Burton wrote in the staff report. “The riparian corridor adjacent to the project is extremely limited in its habitat value and influence.”
The Sierra Club, however claimed in the litigation that the environmental perils are real and serious.
“(The office campus) will significantly degrade existing riparian habitat, both through physical encroachment and shading the area, which is expected to harm the long-time health and growth of plants,” the environmental group stated in court papers. “The project’s large glass towers also endanger native and migrating birds by increasing the risk of collisions.”
In the staff report, city officials stated that the office tower would have been constructed in a way to reduce the likelihood of birds colliding with it.
“This project is not subject to the bird-safe design guidance outlined in city council policy since the project site is south of State Route 237,” Burton wrote in the staff report. “However, the project would incorporate bird-safety design measures at the buildings north, west, and south-facing facades.”
The lawsuit, filed in Oct 2021, raised concerns about significant delays before the development could start construction.
On March 1, Judge Sunil Kulkarni (presiding over the civil case) issued a notice directing the parties to the lawsuit that they appear in August for a hearing to handle the proceedings in the case.
Court papers show that settlement talks were held in December but did not produce a resolution.
According to city officials, the office complex would bring significant economic benefits. These include 7,700 construction job opportunities and $777million in construction wages over its lifetime. The new campus could house 6,400 people once it is completed.
Scott Knies (executive director of San Jose Downtown Association), stated that the office campus would make a dramatic and welcome addition in the city. He wrote this August 2021 letter to city.
“Aesthetically and architecturally, we anticipate it will be a significant part of the downtown skyline, an emblem of a growing, changing, and improving city,” Knies wrote in the letter.