Investors scout IBM research hub in San Jose and ponder future uses
SAN JOSE - An investment group is eyeing future uses for the iconic IBM research lab in San Jose that for decades was a hub for countless game-changing scientific and tech breakthroughs.
The investors are looking at what could emerge on a small section of the IBM Almaden Research Center site while preserving as open space several hundred adjoining acres on the property, which is at 650 Harry Road in south San Jose, city files show.
“I represent a group of investors who are evaluating the best use of the currently developed portion of the property, including reuse of the existing buildings, that is consistent with the San Jose Envision 2040 General Plan and the Industrial Park Zoning District,” said Erik Schoennauer, a San Jose-based land-use and planning consultant.
Nestled in the hills above the Almaden Valley, the overall site totals roughly 687 acres, city planning files show.
The proposal seeks to change the site’s zoning designation, which at present is agricultural with a planned development overlay.
The investors hope to shift the zoning to “industrial park” for 35 acres at the site and to “open space” on 652 acres on the property, the city planning files show.
“The current zoning is an antiquated custom zoning from 1980 specifically for the IBM Research Center operation,” Schoennauer said. “This application is simply a conforming rezoning to establish zoning on the property that matches the existing general plan designations of industrial park and open space.”
The zoning maneuvers have emerged in the wake of IBM’s decision to shut the Almaden complex and move its researchers and workers a few miles away to IBM's Silicon Valley Lab at 555 Bailey Rd. on the edges of Coyote Valley in San Jose.
A rezoning could produce significant long-term benefits related to the property, in Schoennauer’s view.
“This would ensure that any potential future development proposal is consistent with the long-held land use vision for the property, including retention of the 652 acres of existing open space,” Schoennauer said.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 5:18 AM.