{"id":6783,"date":"2026-08-14T14:10:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6783"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:10:41","slug":"ibm-research-center-in-san-jose-might-land-updated-city-crafted-zoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6783","title":{"rendered":"IBM Research Center in San Jose might land updated city-crafted zoning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN JOSE \u2014 The future of IBM\u2019s research center in South San Jose may start to take shape this month if the City Council decides to update the zoning for the tech titan\u2019s scenic office hub.<\/p>\n

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Sections of the 687-acre IBM site, perched on bucolic hills above the Almaden Valley of San Jose, could receive new zoning designations.<\/p>\n

The entire IBM Almaden Research Center site, at 650 Harry Road, now bears a designation of Planned Development Zoning District, a staff report prepared for an Aug. 18 San Jose City Council meeting shows.<\/p>\n

Roughly 35 acres, including the location of the research center\u2019s buildings, would be designated as an Industrial Park Zoning District, according to the staff report. An estimated 652 acres would be designated as an Open Space Zoning District. The precise open-space acreage has varied in different reports. IBM still owns the entire property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Industrial Park designation is \u2026 intended for a wide variety of industrial users such as research and development, manufacturing, assembly, testing, and offices,\u201d the San Jose Planning Department stated.<\/p>\n

The surrounding open spaces would have a very different range of prospective uses if the rezonings were approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cLands in this (an Open Space) designation are typically devoted to open space, parks, recreation areas, trails, habitat buffers, nature preserves, and other permanent open space areas,\u201d the staff report stated.<\/p>\n

The property became available after IBM decided to close the research hub and shift its workers a few miles away to IBM\u2019s Silicon Valley Lab, at 555 Bailey Road on the edges of Coyote Valley in San Jose.<\/p>\n

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The proposed rezoning has been placed on the City Council\u2019s consent calendar for the upcoming meeting. Consent calendar items can receive speedy votes with time-limited public debate.<\/p>\n

The revamped zoning designations don\u2019t enable a site redevelopment or project approval by themselves. Any specific proposals might be subject to considerably more extensive public scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Some San Jose residents wrote emails to the city raising concerns about the rezoning effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis request is far more complicated and nuanced than it appears on the surface,\u201d Jessica Vernon wrote in an Aug. 11 email to city leaders. \u201cThe consent calendar is an inappropriate forum for the magnitude of issues that this land use and its history represent to the public and to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Another area resident, Abby Simons, urged the San Jose City Council to remove the item from the consent calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis agenda item needs to be discussed openly by the residents of the Almaden Valley and greater San Jose community,\u201d Simons wrote in the email. \u201cLeadership means thoughtful restraint and respect of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm, touted the property\u2019s potential benefits for a new owner, according to a marketing brochure the company has circulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis offering provides investors the unique opportunity to reposition or redevelop a property of unique scale within Silicon Valley,\u201d the brochure states.<\/p>\n

The research hub totals 544,500 square feet, according to the Cushman & Wakefield marketing materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cA wide variety of uses, including data centers, industrial, research and development, advanced manufacturing, and general office\u201d could emerge inside the existing research hub, Cushman & Wakefield noted.<\/p>\n

San Jose-based land-use consultant Erik Schoennuaer represents the investment group that might buy some or all of the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current zoning is an antiquated custom zoning from 1980 specifically for the IBM Research Center operation,\u201d Schoennauer said in comments he provided to this news organization in June. \u201cThis application is simply a conforming rezoning to establish zoning on the property that matches the existing general plan designations of industrial park and open space.\u201d<\/p>\n

The site could be bought by an owner that also intends to occupy the existing buildings, marketing materials show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are limited opportunities for users to purchase office and research and development buildings on a site of this scale in Silicon Valley,\u201d Cushman & Wakefield stated in the brochure.<\/p>\n

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The future of IBM’s research center in South San Jose may start to take shape this month if the City Council decides to update the zoning for the tech titan’s scenic office hub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nIBM Research Center in San Jose might land updated city-crafted zoning - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6783\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IBM Research Center in San Jose might land updated city-crafted zoning - 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