SAN JOSE — The South Bay unit of a tech company based in Asia has gobbled another chunk of San Jose real estate, this time buying an office and research building in the city.
SK Hynix America has paid $49.5 million to buy a building at 5981 Optical Court in South San Jose, documents filed on April 30 at the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.
5981 Optical Ct., a research and office building in south San Jose. (Google Maps)
The building totals 112,000 square feet and includes manufacturing space. SK Hynix bought the building through an all-cash deal, according to the public records.
SK Hynix America is a subsidiary of South Korea-based SK Hynix Inc., which in turn is part of an industrial conglomerate. SK Hynix is a memory chips manufacturer with a global reach.
The just-bought South San Jose building became empty and available after a solar roof company exited the site, ceased operations, laid off all its South Bay workers and moved to Texas.
An affiliate of Peninsula Land & Capital sold the 5981 Optical building to SK Hynix. In 2021, Peninsula Land paid $32.1 million for the building.
At the same time in 2021, Peninsula Land bought an adjacent building at 5970 Optical, paying $31.4 million for that property. The 5970 Optical building wasn’t part of the SK Hynix deal.
The SK Hynix purchase also provides some hopeful signs regarding these types of tech buildings, despite a generally rough market for office buildings.
The tech company’s purchase points to rising values for the building. The 5981 Optical building’s assessed value was $34 million in January 2025.
This means SK Hynix paid 45.6% more than the building’s assessed value.
The value difference hints that the property might experience an increase in its assessed valuation.
This has implications for local government agencies and the services they provide. Property taxes produce a crucial revenue stream for cities, counties, regional agencies and school districts.
The South San Jose deal marks the second time in recent years that SK Hynix has bought a large property in the Bay Area’s largest city.
In 2018, the company paid $31 million for 11 acres of empty land next to its local headquarters at 3101 North First St. in North San Jose.
SK Hynix has yet to develop the land in North San Jose. It also wasn’t immediately clear what the tech company’s plans might be for the empty Optical Court property it has just purchased in South San Jose.