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Google makes headway to resolve lawsuit over downtown San Jose village
Legal settlement is sought to clear path to launch construction of transit-oriented neighborhood

By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: August 10, 2022 at 7:13 a.m. | UPDATED: August 10, 2022 at 7:33 a.m.

SAN JOSE — Google is making progress in efforts to settle land transfers for downtown San Jose parcels dating back to the mid-19th Century that reside within the footprint of the tech titan’s transit village, court papers show.

A legal battle had erupted that pitted Google and the city of San Jose against a group of individuals to determine the ownership of remnants of small land parcels near an old bakery building on the western edges of downtown San Jose, Santa Clara County court documents show.

The search giant and San Jose filed a lawsuit in April 2022 to pursue a county court ruling that definitively awards Google and the city clear and unquestioned ownership of the remnants of four small parcels, which are near the corner of South Montgomery Street and Park Avenue.

But in May 2022, Peter Adams, a possible descendant of one of the 19th-Century owners of the small properties, countersued Google and the city to attempt to convince the court that he was the legal owner of a parcel remnant in downtown San Jose.

On July 22, however, Adams filed a motion to dismiss his own lawsuit against Google and the city. This means that Adams for now has scuttled his efforts to seek a court ruling that he owns one or more of the parcels.

The legal process at the heart of these court cases is formally known as ‘quieting’ the title for the parcels that are involved. Google and the city seek to ensure that the parcel remnants are all transferred by court order to the tech company and the municipality.

“We’re working with the city of San Jose on a land transfer process,” a Google spokesperson told this news organization in June in connection with the outset of the quiet title litigation.

The legal maneuvers and the clear title to the properties must be settled before substantial development of the Google village, which is known as Downtown West, can proceed.

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In February 2022, Google offered Adams $5000, court papers show, as a “courtesy fee” if Adams filed a quitclaim deed to definitely show that Adams had no ownership rights to any of the parcel remnants.
Google hopes to begin construction by no later than sometime in early 2023 on infrastructure improvements as a precursor to the actual development of the transit village. The new neighborhood is viewed as a game-changing development for San Jose, which means the settlement of the land claims is a crucial preliminary step.

The move to settle the litigation is a hopeful sign for the downtown San Jose Google village, said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy.

“This demonstrates that the Downtown West project is moving along as planned without any significant delays,” Staedler said.

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2022/0...l-estate-tech/