Quality of life draws many CEOs south, and with them, their
companies
Technology and other businesses are discovering the charms of the South County area and San Benito County, according to some local developers. For years, the big firms – and many small ones – stayed north due to attractive rates and available buildings and office space.
South County developers – and developers with property south of San Jose – have been salivating for years over tech companies large and small, but only recently are the Silicon Valley bedroom communities become the place to live and to work.
With business parks springing up in the South County and San Benito County, there are opportunities for companies to beat the rising rent and decreasing availability to the north. Cochrane Business Ranch is adjacent to the Madrone Business Park and Madrone Shopping Center, which are owned by Toeniskoetter & Breeding, Inc. The three commercial centers have more than 700,000 square feet of floor space.
Morgan Hill, which already has giants Alien and Anritsu, will like to fill the several business parks in the north part of the city on Cochrane Road, Sutter Boulevard, Jarvis Drive and Madrone Parkway. Robert Lee, spokesman for Ireland San Filippo Accounting, said the company recently chose to move its regional office to a space in the Cochrane Business Ranch.
“We needed larger facilities to house people in, there wasn’t room in our current location,” Lee said. “We needed a larger office presence. So far our relations with the landlord have been wonderful.”
The 20 staff members will move into the business park Dec. 1. Toenskoetter & Breeding has also filled a number of retail and restaurant slots in its Madrone Village shopping center. The development firm serves as a managing general partner for a number of properties in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
Scott Jacobs, with Landbank Investments LLC based in Menlo Park, said he believes it is not only that office space north is shrinking, but also a quality of life issue.
“Housing is so expensive up north, and there is the traffic congestion,” he said. “It’s a whole quality of life component as well. It’s getting hard to find elbow room up north, while you have all those added values in the Morgan Hill and Gilroy area.” Landbank Investments LLC owns the large black glass building at 8100 Arroyo Circle, and has recently filled a 21,000 square-foot space with a tech company, DT Displays of Monterey. “They set up their world headquarters there, and we’re in the process of trying to bring other technology companies from outlying areas,” Jacobs said.
Businesses moving into the area are having a harder time locating available, affordable space to the north, he added.
“It’s getting much tighter, that’s one reason businesses are looking south again,” he said. “The vacancy rates up north are falling, and therefore the prices have been increasing, particularly the last two years. They’re getting priced out of the market, so they begin to look south. And they find that they have more possibilities to consider.”
With the proposed development of Coyote Valley, businesses will have yet another option. Though the plan for the live-and-work community is still going through review and revision, the Coyote Valley Research Park, planned for the Bailey Avenue at Santa Teresa Boulevard, is to be constructed shortly.
