CityView Plaza
CityView Plaza is the Bay Area’s largest office-to-residential conversion. Its ambitious transformation addresses two urgent urban challenges simultaneously: the region’s critical housing shortage and the high number of office vacancies.
Phase One delivers 320 new homes, setting the stage for a second phase featuring a 27-story tower that will bring the total to 680 residences. Together, they help recast downtown San Jose as a 24/7 neighborhood, supporting local businesses, attracting residents to the area, and strengthening the city’s resilience.
Initially built as office structures, the existing buildings presented a rare opportunity for adaptive reuse. SCB’s design reenergizes them as a modern residential community that extends their lifespan, conserving embodied carbon, and enriching downtown life through sustainable infill. The challenge was less technical than visionary, demanding an imaginative solution to transform dormant structures into vital contributors to San Jose’s future.
Through a series of targeted interventions, the design imbues the complex with new purpose and value. High-performance windows open views while enhancing acoustic and thermal comfort. Landscaped courtyards and plazas replace hardscape, mitigating heat island effects and creating restorative green spaces. The forthcoming tower amplifies this reinvention by adding density, a bold architectural presence, and continuity between phases.
At the street level, new retail and residential amenities contribute to a lively, walkable downtown. This transformation not only extends the life of existing structures but advances a model for sustainable, urban living grounded in context and environmental responsibility.
CityView Plaza stands as a defining example of SCB’s expertise in adaptive reuse, reimagining an underutilized downtown site as a vibrant, sustainable, mixed-use community.
