Urban Catalyst Lands Financing for Silicon Valley Makeover

Paseo. Image courtesy of Urban Catalyst

Urban Catalyst has made two crucial steps toward starting work on its conversion of the former Camera 12 theater in San Jose, Calif., into a mixed-use property. The company closed on a $56.2 million senior construction loan provided by Rialto Capital and secured the building permit for the project. JLL’s Jordan Angel arranged the construction financing from Rialto Capital.

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Called Paseo, the project calls for the conversion of the former Camera 12 theater in downtown San Jose, which has been closed since 2016, into 100,000 square feet of mixed-use office and retail space.

The property, which is expected to be completed in July 2022, will offer 75,000 square feet of Class A office space alongside 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The project team will take advantage of the building’s former life as a theater and use the high ceilings to create features like floating conference rooms, mezzanine levels and catwalks to rooftop gardens, according to Urban Catalyst.

The company tapped HGA and ArcTec to design the urban revitalization project, while Swenson Builders was hired as the general contractor. Colliers International’s Nick Goddard will be the retail leasing broker for Paseo, with Newmark’s Jeff Arrillaga as the leasing broker for the office space. When completed, MCM Diversified will be responsible for the property management for both the office and retail portions of Paseo.

The project has already attracted interest from full-service bars and restaurants for its retail component, according to Urban Catalyst. Josh Burroughs, partner & COO at Urban Catalyst, said in prepared remarks that the retail section of Paseo is almost 100 percent leased.

Second fund for San Jose

Paseo will be the first of six projects that Urban Catalyst is expecting to begin construction on in 2021. The project is also one of six developments in Urban Catalyst’s Fund I, which closed in December after raising $131 million. The other projects in the company’s Fund I span a variety of uses, including office, retail, multifamily and student housing.

Urban Catalyst also opened its Fund II in February, with a goal of raising $200 million. The fund will similarly focus on office and residential developments in downtown San Jose. The first project announced for the second fund is a mixed-use property with multifamily rentals and office space called Icon/Echo.