Montana Property JV to Develop $400M M-U Project Near New 49ers Stadium

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

A joint venture of Montana Property Group, of Hayward, Calif., and Lowe Enterprises, of Los Angeles, has unveiled plans for Santa Clara Centennial Gateway, a $400 million, 860,000-square-foot, entertainment-themed, mixed-use development on a 9.5-acre downtown site owned by the city of Santa Clara, Calif., the partners announced Friday.

The project, slated to include hotel, office and entertainment space at Tasman Drive and Centennial Boulevard, would be adjacent to the $1 billion, 68,500-seat Levi’s Stadium, the shortly new home of the San Francisco 49ers. The site is adjacent to the Santa Clara Convention Center and the California’s Great America amusement park.

The project is currently subject to an exclusive negotiation agreement between the City of Santa Clara and Montana Property Group.

“Centennial Gateway will be a vibrant seven-day-a-week hub for work, dining, entertainment and hospitality that will capitalize on the growth and evolution of Silicon Valley and the City of Santa Clara, as well as the continuing dominance of professional football as the most watched and followed sport in America,” Lowe Enterprises chairman &CEO Robert J. Lowe said in the announcement.

The project as currently envisioned includes a 200-room hotel, a 125-room hotel, two 240,000-square-foot office buildings and up to 150,000 square feet of retail, restaurants (including a Joe Montana signature restaurant) and entertainment space, along with public plazas and two parking structures totaling more than 2,500 spaces.

NBBJ has been retained as the master planner, and Turner Construction has been retained as general contractor.

The site is served by VTA light rail, Amtrak and ACE regional rail for easy access by commuters, visitors and football fans.

Centennial Gateway is expected to be approved next summer, following an Environmental Impact Statement, ground lease agreement and building permits, a Lowe spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive.

The first phase, which includes one of the hotels, would break ground shortly later and be slated for completion before Super Bowl L, in February 2016.

Levi’s Stadium is scheduled to be open by fall 2014, at which time the 49ers will relocate to Santa Clara.