{"id":17239,"date":"2026-05-17T18:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/17239\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T18:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:55:19","slug":"san-joses-bank-of-italy-tower-begins-a-second-life-as-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/17239\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose\u2019s Bank of Italy Tower Begins a Second Life as Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"12 <\/a> 12 South First Street <\/a><\/p>\n

Address: 12 South First Street, San Jose, CA<\/p>\n

Status: Under Construction<\/p>\n

Residential Units: 109<\/p>\n

Year Built: 1927<\/p>\n

For nearly a century, the Bank of Italy tower at 12 South First Street has stood over downtown San Jose as a reminder of an earlier California boom. Long before Silicon Valley became synonymous with software engineers and AI startups, the ornate brick-and-terracotta tower symbolized the rise of modern banking, urban ambition, and a growing San Jose trying to establish itself as more than an agricultural outpost. Now, after sitting mostly vacant for nearly a decade, the historic building is beginning another transformation, one that says as much about the future of downtown office markets as it does about the past.<\/p>\n

Westbank and Urban Community officially broke ground this spring on the conversion of the former office tower into 109 apartments, one of the highest-profile office-to-residential projects currently underway in Northern California. The project arrives at a moment when San Jose\u2019s downtown office vacancy rate has climbed to roughly 30 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield, significantly above the broader Silicon Valley market. At the same time, the city remains under intense pressure to add housing near transit, jobs, and downtown amenities.<\/p>\n

The conversion represents the kind of adaptive reuse project cities across the country increasingly say they want, but that relatively few developers have actually managed to finance and execute at scale.<\/p>\n

Originally completed in 1926 as a Bank of Italy branch before the institution became Bank of America, the 14-story building was once the tallest structure between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Designed in an Italian Renaissance Revival style with a prominent clocktower and red tile roof, the building became an architectural symbol of downtown San Jose for generations. Even as suburban office campuses spread across Silicon Valley and corporate development shifted north toward Santa Clara and Palo Alto, the tower remained one of the city\u2019s most recognizable historic structures.<\/p>\n

The building\u2019s connection to California banking history runs even deeper than its architecture. Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco in 1904 by San Jose-born Amadeo Pietro Giannini, whose institution would later evolve into Bank of America. The San Jose tower became the second home of the bank\u2019s first branch, and Bank of America continued occupying the building until 1970. Long before tech campuses defined the region\u2019s skyline, the tower represented one of the clearest symbols of San Jose\u2019s economic ambitions.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the current residential conversion was not the first attempt to reposition the building for a new era. Before the pandemic disrupted office markets and reshaped downtown demand patterns, Westbank and Urban Community had pursued an ambitious office-centered rehabilitation plan for the tower. Preliminary plans designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and RMW Architecture envisioned transforming the building into a highly activated mixed-use office destination rather than housing.<\/p>\n

That earlier concept reflected the late-2010s belief that creative office environments, hospitality-style amenities, and entertainment uses could revive aging downtown buildings. The proposal included modern office space from the second through thirteenth floors, large outdoor terraces, a cafe, restaurant space, food hall, and a three-level entertainment venue complete with lounges and a speakeasy-style bar. A rooftop observation area and nearly 4,000 square feet of second-floor amenity terraces were also planned. Renderings showed dramatic interventions along Fountain Alley, including landscaped exterior stair additions, retail activation, and entertainment-oriented public space intended to create a more vibrant pedestrian environment.<\/p>\n

The proposed redesign attempted to walk a careful line between preservation and reinvention. Designers explored multiple exterior materials for additions and upgrades, including copper cladding, terracotta, concrete, and even living wall systems. One of the more significant architectural interventions involved adding a new exterior egress stair tower at the rear of the building, which would simultaneously satisfy code requirements while creating outdoor landscaped platforms for tenants.<\/p>\n

In another market cycle, that vision might have moved forward. But the pandemic fundamentally altered assumptions surrounding downtown office demand, especially for secondary and historic office product. The same building once envisioned as a boutique office destination ultimately became a candidate for housing instead.<\/p>\n

That shift says a great deal about how dramatically urban economics have changed in only a few years.<\/p>\n

The tower has sat largely vacant since around 2017, a casualty of changing tenant expectations, aging office layouts, and the broader migration toward newer Class A space. Rather than attempt another office repositioning after COVID accelerated remote and hybrid work trends, Westbank and Urban Community pivoted toward residential conversion.<\/p>\n

In some ways, the Bank of Italy building was unusually well positioned for that transition. Westbank executives noted that the tower\u2019s relatively narrow floorplates made residential layouts more feasible than many modern office towers, where deep interiors create major natural light and ventilation challenges. Still, the project required years of coordination with the city and extensive work around preservation, permitting, and code compliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen will you ever get to build ground up, something of brick and terracotta, something of this architecture?\u201d Westbank U.S. development president Andrew Jacobson said during the groundbreaking ceremony. \u201cGetting to take something that\u2019s iconic and already existing, it\u2019s worth the time and effort because what you get in the end is a gem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project will convert the upper floors into 109 residential units while redesigning the lower floors to include a residential lobby, amenities, and upgraded building systems. The redevelopment also includes facade restoration and window upgrades intended to preserve the tower\u2019s historic character while meeting residential standards. According to city documents, construction is expected to conclude in the third quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n

The financing structure behind the project helps explain both the opportunities and challenges surrounding office conversions today. In May, Deutsche Bank provided $71.1 million in financing for the redevelopment, with Cushman & Wakefield\u2019s Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team arranging the loan. The deal stands out because large institutional lenders have remained selective about conversion financing, particularly for historic assets with complicated redevelopment requirements.<\/p>\n

The project team also reflects the complexity of the assignment. Westbank and Urban Community are the developers behind the conversion, with RMW Architecture serving as the architect for the residential redevelopment. Deutsche Bank provided the $71.1 million construction financing, while Cushman & Wakefield\u2019s Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team, including Dave Karson, Chris Moyer, Alex Lapidus, and Chris Meloni, arranged the loan on behalf of the borrowers. The earlier pre-COVID office repositioning plan had involved Bjarke Ingels Group and RMW Architecture, but the current 109-unit residential conversion is tied most directly to RMW\u2019s adaptive reuse work.<\/p>\n

Cushman & Wakefield\u2019s Dave Karson described the project as evidence that lenders still see opportunity in well-located adaptive reuse projects despite broader office market distress. That optimism likely reflects several factors beyond the building itself, including downtown San Jose\u2019s long-term housing demand, the scarcity of entitled residential sites, and the substantial public incentives<\/a> attached to the project.<\/p>\n

Those incentives played a major role in making the numbers work.<\/p>\n

In early 2026, San Jose expanded its Downtown Residential Incentive Program to include eligible office-to-residential conversion projects. That change opened the door for the Bank of Italy redevelopment to receive substantial fee and tax reductions intended to offset the unusually high costs associated with adaptive reuse.<\/p>\n

According to city documents, the project qualified for approximately $3.68 million in waived fees and incentives. That package included roughly $795,700 in reduced parkland in-lieu fees and a complete waiver of approximately $2.89 million in Inclusionary Housing Ordinance in-lieu fees. The building also qualified for exemptions from San Jose\u2019s construction taxes because of its historic landmark status.<\/p>\n

The incentives reflect a growing reality facing many cities: without public assistance, a large percentage of office conversions simply do not pencil financially. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan acknowledged as much during the groundbreaking ceremony, noting that \u201cthe costs are higher, the risks are real and for too long, the math just didn\u2019t pencil out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s willingness to waive millions in fees also highlights how aggressively municipalities are beginning to compete for residential development in struggling downtown office districts. San Jose\u2019s program specifically targets projects that can help increase downtown population density, support transit usage, activate retail corridors, and stabilize urban cores weakened by remote work.<\/p>\n

The Bank of Italy conversion is expected to create roughly 275 construction jobs, with most positions paying between $60,000 and $80,000 annually according to city estimates. But the broader significance of the project extends beyond construction employment or even the 109 housing units themselves.<\/p>\n

The redevelopment has become something of a symbolic test case for downtown San Jose\u2019s next phase. For years, the city pursued an office-centric growth strategy built around tech employment expansion. But as hybrid work reshapes demand patterns, cities like San Jose increasingly appear to be shifting toward a more residentially balanced downtown model.<\/p>\n

The Bank of Italy tower was originally built during one era of urban transformation. Nearly 100 years later, its latest reinvention reflects another. The tower\u2019s evolution from landmark bank headquarters, to boutique office concept, to residential conversion captures the changing priorities of downtown America itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"12 South First Street Address: 12 South First Street, San Jose, CA Status: Under Construction Residential Units: 109…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,12605,3334],"class_list":{"0":"post-17239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-italy","9":"tag-rmw-architecture","10":"tag-san-jose"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}