Back in June, SanJose.com reported about the grand opening of the Three Sixty residential tower in the heart of downtown San Jose after many long delays. Its 23 stories of luxurious living in the heart of downtown San Jose faced various problems with the bank that funded it, and even after that was taken care of, some early buyers got cold feet and moved on to other homes. Then there was the financial crisis, which saw home prices in the area drop as much as 20 percent. Once that happened potential buyers who put 5 percent toward the original purchase price when the project was launched tried to drop out. It hasn’t been an easy ride for what was supposed to be San Jose’s premier residential tower.

Drastic times call for drastic measures, and that’s precisely the kind of measures that the owners of the Three Sixty are taking. Early this month US Bank, which owned the primary loan that financed the building’s construction, sold the note to Beverly Hills-based real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson, Inc. Kennedy Wilson is now expected to foreclose on the project and take over its management.

Harry Mavrogenes, Executive Director of San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency, says that Kennedy Wilson’s plan is to turn the building from condos into rental units. The RDA originally sold the land for the Three Sixty to Mesa Development LLC, which now owns the building, and the switch to rental would require its approval. Mavrogenes says that he would agree to such a switch, since it would get people moving into the downtown area. He may also have no choice. What would the financially strapped RDA do with an enormous empty property in the heart of Downtown?
Read More at the Business Journal.