SAN JOSE — A Home Depot hardware store property that’s one of the anchors of a busy and high-profile retail and restaurant hub in San Jose has been bought for over $70 million.
Realty Income Corp., acting through an affiliate, has bought a Home Depot store site at The Plant shopping center in San Jose for $72.8 million, according to documents filed on Dec. 24 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
San Diego Realty Income bought the property through an all-cash deal, according to the property documents. The Home Depot store is at 2181 Monterey Road.
In January 2024, the Home Depot property was valued at $26 million, files at the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office show.
This assessment estimate suggests that sites occupied by top-notch hardware stores are retaining — or even increasing — their values, in sharp contrast to the brutal downturn for the Bay Area office and hotel sector and the uncertain outlook for many retail properties.
The deal represents the second major property purchase this year of a big chunk of The Plant, a store and dining hub at the corner of Monterey Road and Curtner Avenue in south San Jose.
In August 2024, Arc Capital Partners and Milan Capital Management, two real estate investment firms, teamed up to buy the vast majority of The Plant for $95 million.
Arc Capital and Milan Capital bought three parcels at The Plant. The portion of the shopping center the real estate firms bought included some significant empty spaces.
The three parcels Arc Capital and Milan Capital bought were valued at $156 million as of January 2024, according to an estimate on file with the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office.
Yet within months of this purchase, Arc and Milan scored a big win by signing a Mexican supermarket to fill the largest available space in The Plant, a long-vacant site where Toys ‘R Us and Babies ‘R Us had operated stores on the north side of The Plant.
Vallarta Supermarkets, which offers traditional foods and items native to Mexico, has leased the space, which totals 65,000 square feet.
Toys ‘R Us and Babies ‘R Us shut their doors in 2018 at The Plant. The space has been vacant since 2018.
Now that’s changing with the Vallarta Supermarkets rental deal. The Mexican supermarket is expected to move into its space in the second half of 2026.
The San Jose store would be the first Bay Area site for Vallarta Supermarkets. The chain’s closest stores to the Bay Area are in the Monterey County cities of Watsonville and Salinas.
Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, Famous Dave’s, Panera Bread, Applebee’s Grill + Bar, Ross Dress for Less and Ulta Beauty are among The Plant’s primary merchants. Target owns its store space, which wasn’t part of either of this year’s property purchases at The Plant.
“We are eager to build upon the center’s existing strengths to attract best-in-class tenants who will revitalize the portions of the center that have been vacant for far too long,” Chris Nichelson, president of Milan Capital, said at the time of this year’s purchase of most of The Plant.
Vallarta Supermarkets will be a key addition to The Plant. The grocery chain bolsters the efforts of Arc Capital and Milan Capital to stage a turnaround of the retail center, the property’s owners stated.
“This partnership marks a significant step forward in our efforts to revitalize the center and enhance the shopping experience for the local community,” Nichelson said.
