SAN JOSE — A South Bay school district is pondering the possible purchase of a long-empty San Jose residential tower to create a place where hundreds of the educational system’s workers could live.
The San Jose Unified School District is considering a plan to buy one of the two towers in the landmark residential complex at 188 West. St. James St. in downtown San Jose, according to a document prepared for a recent school district meeting.
“The district is interested in potentially acquiring a fee simple interest in the following real property comprising of 337 turnkey residential condominium units in the East Tower … and certain common space portions of the mixed-usecondominium development located at 188 West Saint James St. in San Jose,” stated a contracting agreement prepared for the school board meeting on June 11.
San Jose Unified School District would use the 337 condos in the 22-story eastern tower for “employee housing,” the contracting agreement stated. The condos would be rented out to district workers.
The school district is contracting with CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, to evaluate the property and determine whether a deal should be fashioned for the purchase of the eastern high-rise of the two-tower complex.
Machine Investment Group, the owner of the residential high-rises, is attempting to sell all the condos in the 20-story, 303-unit western tower.
Sales of the units in the western tower began on May 15. Through the close of the business day on June 24, Machine Investment had sold 11 condos, a review of documents filed with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office shows.
Edward Matevosian, the CBRE executive who is providing consulting services related to a possible property purchase of the 188 West St. James tower, will receive at least $50,000 and as much as $863,000 for his endeavors, a school district document shows.
Among the tasks that CBRE is obliged to perform:
The CBRE consultant must craft a fair-market value of the tower, prepare a detailed acquisition timeline, assist the school district in developing an acquisition strategy, recommend a price, and prepare a detailed timeline for the property purchase, the school district document shows.
The tower gambit has appeared at a time when the San Jose Unified School District has decided to shutter five schools in a quest to remedy ailments unleashed by declining enrollment.
Still, the school district’s efforts to find ways to create more housing for its workers go beyond an attempt to buy a tower of condos in downtown San Jose.
In November 2025, San Jose Unified School District floated a plan to develop a 288-unit apartment complex at 760 Hillsdale Ave. in San Jose.
This residential hub would consist of units that would be priced at levels that school district workers could afford. This proposal is in its early stages.
The 760 Hillsdale project would produce housing for the district’s rank-and-file workers, according to documents posted on the school district’s website.
“Workplace housing is a pressing issue for us,” said Seth Reddy, the district’s chief business officer. “We cannot pay our staff sufficient wages to live in comfort and dignity in this area.”