Toeniskoetter Development is progress-
ing with plans to construct five sites in
Madrone Business Park . This includes
a 32,000-square-foot industrial build-
to-suit opportunity. It also includes two
four-story hotels, the Fairfield Inn and
Home2Suites, within Madrone Village
Shopping center. The Carpenter’s Train-
ing Committee for Northern California
is relocating to this larger site to support
its growing apprenticeship and journey-
level education and training programs.
Madrone Village and Business Park is
located at Madrone Parkway and
Cochrane Road.
This year marked the proposed
expansion of the Shoe Palace , a leading
western U.S. athletic footwear and
apparel retailer. Shoe Palace moved to
Morgan Hill five years ago. Business
growth sparked plans to expand
beyond its 274,000-square-foot head-
quarters with an additional 503,000
square feet for an office, warehouse and
distribution center located between
Highway 101 and Jarvis Drive in the
Morgan Hill Ranch Business Park.
In January 2019, Trammel Crow
purchased more than 60 acres (five
parcels) of commercial/industrial land
east of Highway 101 on Cochrane
Road, near Target and the De Paul
Health Center. At press time, Trammel
Crow had just entered the environ-
mental review process with the City
for the Morgan Hill Technology Park.
The developer is preparing to submit
an application to amend the property’s
current commercial/industrial zoning to
mostly industrial designations, to allow
a one-million-square-foot industrial
project comprised of several buildings.
The City did not yet know who the
tenant/s would be.
When Golden State Assembly’s
business outgrew its Fremont manu-
facturing facility, the company chose
Morgan Hill for its expansion. This
year, GSA submitted an application to
34
add 40,000 square feet for manufac-
turing, warehousing and distribution
to its existing 81,185 square feet of
industrial space at Butterfield Boulevard
and Jarvis Drive. GSA develops turn-
key engineered solutions for wiring,
harnessing and custom cable assembly
requirements for customers including
Tesla Motors and Boston Scientific.
Digital Storm relocated its business
to Morgan Hill in 2018 and is choos-
ing to build a new 47,000-square-foot
manufacturing facility between Jarvis
and Technology Drives. Since 2002,
Digital Storm has grown as a system
integrator known for its elite custom
gaming computers, which are rated as
among the highest performing in the
gaming market.
Business
Growth and
Relocations
A new industrial property at 155 Mast
Street is now fully occupied. According
to Lang, Mike Rauschnot built a specu-
lative building as a general industrial
space with 16 units, and it leased within
six months, showing that building spec
space is possible in Morgan Hill.
Tropos Technologies , which is gaining
fame for its electric commercial utility
vehicles (eCUVs), has moved into a
newer space of 5,000 square feet on
Church Street north of Tenant Avenue
as the company expands its engineering
operations and other services.
Supertech is moving its growing
business from San Jose to Digital Drive
in Morgan Hill. As an aftermarket prod-
ucts company, Supertech provides the
racing market with high-performance
valves and valve train components for a
variety of automotive racing disciplines.
Aragen Biosciences is expanding its
15,100 square foot pre-clinical research
facility with an additional 10,950
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
june/july 2019
square feet at its location on Woodview
Avenue just off Cochrane Road west
of Highway 101. Aragen continues to
be a leading provider of research and
development services for the biotech
and pharmaceutical industries since its
founding more than 20 years ago.
Notable Changes
The former El Toro Brewing Company
Building came under new ownership in
2018 and the site, along Monterey Road
in Downtown Morgan Hill, is available
for lease. The popular Siam Thai
Restaurant is under new ownership and
in the process of making some facility
improvements. This summer, locally-
owned Craft Roots will open its doors,
featuring craft beers and plant-based
menu selections, at 17230 Monterey
Road between 3rd and 4th Streets. Hav-
ing another unique dining destination
will further activate our downtown.
Upgraded
Zoning Code
Updating the City’s 20-year-old zoning
code is instrumental to smart growth,
Lang said, because land uses have
changed greatly. He gave as an example
the City’s improved manufacturing/
production flexibility, especially to
support developers’ mixed use goals.
“Rather than building a brewery, why
not build one with a tasting room?” he
suggested, adding that the new zoning
code supports better density planning.
He also noted that the majority of the
City’s zoning designations now allow
healthcare uses.
“Think about the value of avoiding
sprawl,” he said. “We can concentrate
services in a smaller footprint, from
parks to police and fire resources, and
make deliveries more efficient. Sprawl
is not an economically viable approach,
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