SAN JOSE — A south San Jose apartment complex with hundreds of units has been bought in a deal that offers a hopeful sign for the South Bay rental housing sector.
Essex Property Trust, acting through an affiliate, bought the ViO residential hub for $100 million through an all-cash deal, documents filed on Sept. 30 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.
The 234-unit ViO property at 5700 Village Oaks Parkway is across the street from Village Oaks Shopping Center, which is anchored by a Safeway supermarket.
Johnson Development Associates, a real estate firm based in South Carolina that developed ViO in 2016, sold the property.
The ViO deal is the latest in a series of purchases of large apartment hubs in the South Bay during 2025. It also was bought for more than its assessed value.
The purchase price was 2.4% above the property’s estimated value of $97.7 million in January, as calculated by the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office.
In addition, the ViO apartment property was sold at a price of about $427,400 a unit. Per-unit prices in the $400,000 or higher range are above the purchase prices for some South Bay multifamily complexes.
In late August, the 934-unit Park Kiely apartment complex at 355 Kiely Blvd. in San Jose was bought for $370 million, or roughly $390,300 a unit.
In April, the Villages at Cupertino, a 468-unit apartment hub near major Apple office centers, was bought for $207.2 million, which works out to $442,700 a unit.
While prices appear relatively robust for South Bay apartments, some big apartment complexes have landed in financial trouble.
In downtown San Jose’s SoFA district, The Fay, a 363-unit housing tower at 10 East Reed St. at South First Street, is in default on its $182.5 million construction loan.
A few blocks from downtown San Jose, Neo on First, located at 975 South First St., is in default on a $21 million loan.
Demand to rent apartments could be on the rise in the South Bay, according to a second-quarter apartment market report produced by commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.
“Rising home prices, up 10% in 2024, may drive more demand for apartments from priced-out buyers,” Marcus & Millichap wrote in its report.