South San Jose Trends - Costco Coming to South San Jose

1/5/2016

Good news for homeowners and Costco members in the South Bay, Costco will be building a new warehouse off of Highway 85 and Monterey Highway. The approved site is part of the Great Oaks Master Plan with mixed used (retail, apartments, homeownership, commercial, business office, open areas and parks). See picture below. This new Costco facility is reinforcing the positive growth and future outlook of South San Jose. It is roughly bounded by Highway 85, Cottle Road, Blossom Hill Road and Monterey Highway.

As real estate values continue to sky rocket in the most desired neighborhoods in Silicon Valley (such as Los Gatos, Cupertino, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Almaden Valley...), south San Jose home prices provide some price relief. Many South San Jose homes continue to be "more affordable" than the most desired neighborhoods. The real estate prospects continue to be favorable in terms of both demand and prices.

One of the complaints for living in the South San Jose is the commute time. The commute from South San Jose to some of the major high tech employers in Silicon Valley is challenging during rush hour but some of these same employers provided shuttle buses that service south San Jose (e.g. Google and Apple employees have a number of pick up/drop off locations).

We are also seeing a trend of large employers moving or contemplating moving to South Bay. With the strong demand and high prices for commercial office space in Silicon Valley, South San Jose is an option for larger employers due to higher commercial vacancies and lower pricing. In 2015, the Silicon Valley division of BAE Systems (a multinational defense, security and aerospace company headquartered in England) moved it's operations from Santa Clara to South San Jose and is approx. 1 mile from the new Costco site.

If you are looking for lower price points in a home and willing to compromise the commute distance, South San Jose may be the option for you.