SAN JOSE — A San Jose site that has suffered from blight and was never developed despite having a prime location where hundreds of housing units were proposed now faces foreclosure and an auction.
The property is owned by an affiliate controlled by China-based Z&L Properties, which once owned a real estate empire consisting of four downtown San Jose housing development sites and a south San Jose ranch nestled on pristine hillsides and valleys.
The potential foreclosure imperils Z&L’s ownership of an old Greyhound bus terminal with addresses of 60 South Almaden Boulevard and 70 South Almaden, according to documents filed with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
Here are some details regarding an array of Z&L Properties sites in San Jose:
— 323 Terraine Street. In 2021, real estate allies Westbank and local developer Gary Dillabough teamed up to buy the empty lot at 323 Terraine Street from Z&L, which was being pressured by San Jose city officials to sell the site. The property was bought for $11.4 million.
— The 3,654-acre Richmond Ranch in southeast San Jose. In January 2024, the Z&L affiliate sold it for $16 million — after paying $25 million for the pristine site in 2017. Z&L never disclosed its game plan for this property.
— 188 West St. James, a double-tower residential complex with about 600 units. In May 2025, a Z&L Properties affiliate lost ownership of two residential towers through a streamlined foreclosure process that valued the housing complex at $181.9 million.
— 43 East St. James Street: Z&L agreed to protect and renovate an old church at this site next to St. James Park. Instead, the real estate firm has neglected the historic building and allowed it to fall into disrepair. Z&L has also failed to develop housing towers on the site.
The latest hazard for the tattered remnants of the Z&L real estate empire in San Jose is a filing that states a lender intends to auction off the Greyhound terminal site on South Almaden Boulevard.
A Z&L affiliate is in default on a $19.5 million loan that Shanghai Commercial Bank provided in 2019.
If the loan default isn’t cured through a full repayment of the delinquent loan, the bank intends to conduct a foreclosure proceeding in July.
Z&L Properties had proposed the development of hundreds of housing units on the downtown San Jose site. The Greyhound site could be a good location for high-density residential development, real estate experts have said.
A foreclosure would reduce the once-expansive Z&L Properties real estate empire in San Jose only to the old church site near St. James Park.
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