SiliconX is proud to report that the Club Auto Sport Phase II Expansion project is moving along ahead of schedule.

Here’s a picture of the walls being raised.  Many current and prospective tenants and buyers were present to watch the action.

Project Highlights

•   Updated the exterior of a vacant 20,000 sq. ft. commercial building in a prime business location on Los Gatos Blvd. in Los Gatos

•    Completed all exterior improvements on schedule and on budget

•    Provided construction management services for 10,000 sq. ft. of ground floor tenant improvements for YogaSource Los Gatos

•    Are designing and building five of up to ten spaces for the 9,800 sq. ft. of space on the building’s second floor

In 2008, a 20,150 sq. ft., two-story commercial building was constructed on a parcel of just less than one acre on Los Gatos Blvd. in a prime business area in Los Gatos. The expectation was that the building would quickly be leased. But that was before the Great Recession changed everything for a lot of people and businesses throughout Silicon Valley.

Challenge

Since its completion in 2008, the building at 16185 Los Gatos Blvd. had sat vacant. In 2009, the Town of Los Gatos issued a use permit for a bakery and café, but the business never moved in. Finally, in mid-2011, new owners purchased the building and signed a lease with YogaSource Los Gatos to occupy the entire 10,350 sq. ft. ground floor.

To ready the building for the new tenants and prepare the 9,800 sq. ft. of space on the second floor for leasing, the new owners called upon SiliconX Construction to give the building a thorough facelift.

Solution

Working with Kelly Simcox of Studio G Architects in Campbell, SiliconX updated the exterior design for the building. The fresh new look involved the addition of a stonewall feature to the front of the building facing busy Los Gatos Blvd., as well as repainting the entire exterior. SiliconX also installed a sophisticated new electronic irrigation system and landscaping to improve the overall presentation of the building. In addition, the system includes advanced water metering capabilities that will enable the landlord to accurately track and bill water usage by the building’s tenants.

Further, SiliconX provided construction management services to the building owners for the ground floor tenant improvements for YogaSource Los Gatos — ensuring that all work was completed in a timely manner and within budget.

Results

With YogaSource Los Gatos open for business hosting classes, workshops, teacher training, private retreats, and more, the building is finally seeing the use for which it was built.

The building owners have been very satisfied with the work that SiliconX Construction has completed on the building to-date, and the owners have engaged SiliconX to design and build the first five of up to ten units that will be available for lease on the building’s top floor.

Project Highlights

•   Transformed a vacant, aging Rite Aid store into a state-of-the-art fitness facility

•    Relied on a well-managed design-build process to complete all tenant improvements on budget and on schedule in just over 3 months

•    Seamlessly handled specialized requirements such as electrical and data connections for more than 200 exercise machines with digital displays

•    Demoed and constructed large men’s and women’s locker rooms with showers and spa/Whirlpool area

Bay Area Family Fitness, owned by long-time trainer Dave Morrison, is not your typical fitness club. Unlike some of the larger fitness chains, the club takes good care of its facilities as well as its members and highly professional staff. More importantly, it is results-driven — focused on designing individualized training programs and teaching people how to get the workouts they need, even if it ultimately means the members may no longer need the services of a personal trainer.

Challenge

Timing is everything. In September 2011, when Bay Area Family Fitness had the opportunity to open its second club in an old 38,000 sq. ft. Rite Aid pharmacy on Capitol Expressway in San Jose, Morrison knew he needed to move fast. For starters, January is the month when a fitness facility must be open for business — to cater to the hundreds of well-intentioned people who flock to fitness facilities as part of New Year’s resolutions. In addition, Morrison had negotiated favorable lease terms, and the sooner he opened his doors, the more he could capitalize on the lease’s financial benefits.

Solution

SiliconX Construction took advantage of the City of San Jose’s Special Tenant Improvement (STI) program, designed to streamline the permit process for companies locating in vacant buildings — receiving the construction permit on September 13, 2011. Construction started the same week, managed under a design-build approach working closely with Michael Zucker & Associates, AIA, of San Francisco.

After finishing demolition of the remaining interior improvements, SiliconX began to transform the former Rite Aid into a state-of-the-art fitness facility. SiliconX handled construction of an entirely new mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure to meet the club’s requirements. This included electrical and data connections for approximately 200 pieces of cardio and other machines equipped with fitness displays and TV screens in the 13,000 sq. ft. main exercise room.

SiliconX also demoed and constructed 2,400 sq. ft. for men’s and women’s locker rooms — with 12 showers, granite countertops and tile floors throughout. In addition, the project included a spa area with sauna and Whirlpool, a 4,200 sq. ft. free weight area, and a 1,500 sq. ft. group exercise area for yoga, Pilates, Zumba, kids fitness classes, and more.

Results

Moving quickly — but building to the highest standards throughout the facility — SiliconX Construction was able to complete its work two days before Christmas, 2011. That gave Morrison and the staff of the new facility ample time to have the club ready for the New Year’s rush of new members. Morrison commented, “I was extremely pleased with both the speed and attention to detail that SiliconX demonstrated in completing the new facility for us in such a tight timeframe.”

Morrison recently acquired a majority interest in Express Fitness Center in Pleasanton, which he helped found a number of years ago, and he plans to use SiliconX to upgrade those facilities as the location becomes part of the Bay Area Family Fitness brand. More club locations may be added to the family as Morrison seeks to serve the Bay Area market.

Borelli Investment Company has an almost unmatched history of providing top-quality service to customers in commercial real estate in the Santa Clara Valley. Founded in 1955, the company knows the Valley better than anyone and has long provided truly personalized attention on a variety of services such as property and asset management, brokerage, sophisticated land sales and repositioning, investment syndication, and court-appointed receiverships.

Borelli has also been an innovator in property renovation and conversion to commercial or office condos as well as ground-up construction and development.

While the third-party contractors Borelli has used in the past have worked hard, conflicting priorities for these general contractors have sometimes impacted schedules and other aspects of the process.

Building a New Construction Company

As Borelli enters 2012, that has all changed with the introduction of Borelli’s affiliated contractor, SiliconX Construction. SiliconX will provide extensive services in four key areas:

•   Tenant improvements, ranging from micro-offices of 300 sq. ft. or less to 500,000 sq. ft. or more.

•   Major renovations, like those Borelli managed at Junction Office Center and Fremont Business Park.

•   Ground-up construction for any type of facility or construction method.

•   Facilities maintenance, carrying on the Borelli tradition of being highly responsive and delivering excellent value for the money.

Great People Working Side-by-Side

SiliconX Construction is led by Tony Gonzalez, a Borelli employee who brings more than 30 years in construction and general contracting to his new position — including over 15 years as a superintendent with a major contractor based in Silicon Valley.

Tony’s experience is amazingly diverse — he’s worked on chip manufacturing facilities, aerospace plants, multiplex movie theaters, and all kinds of office, commercial and retail space — including Club Auto Sport, the specialty office and event center and club for car enthusiasts. He has experience with clean rooms and processing piping as well as standard tenant improvements, and has built multi-million dollar, multi-story office and commercial buildings.

SiliconX project managers work in the same offices as Borelli’s property managers. This allows for unique partnerships in addressing the needs of tenants for prompt, efficient facilities maintenance with minimal business disruptions. SiliconX’s dedicated facilities technicians can do it all—from repairing a door or window or addressing a plumbing issue to handling grounds maintenance or even upgrading exterior lighting to energy-efficient LCD lights. The team will even assist with furniture moves, if desired.

For new construction, SiliconX has a broad array of skills — in site selection, land acquisition and design; in budgeting, bidding, planning, and permits; and in zoning, entitlements and regulatory approvals — not to mention construction services.

Get to Know SiliconX Construction Better

Because many of the people at SiliconX are people you may have known through Borelli Investment Company, SiliconX is like an old friend with a lot of new capabilities. The bottom line is even better service for customers.

Want to know more about SiliconX? Contact Tom Purell at tom@borelli.com or call 408.418.0099.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact
Tom Purtell, Chief Operating Officer
SiliconX Construction
2051 Junction Avenue, Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95131
Ph: 408.418.0099
tom@siliconxconstruction.com

All Green Lights at Groundbreaking for Club Auto Sport Phase II

San Jose, Calif., December 27, 2011 — Club Auto Sport — the unique business and event center as well as a high-end club for automobile and motor sports enthusiasts — had a lot to celebrate Thursday night in North San Jose. While Club Auto Sport’s growing roster of more than 40 businesses operating within the facility’s vibrant, vital business community celebrated the season in the club, a group of executives from SiliconX Construction, Borelli Investment Company, Borelli Motor Sports, Goodies Speed Shop, TMFC, Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and of course, Club Auto Sport gathered to turn over the first shovel of dirt at the groundbreaking for Club Auto Sport Phase II.

Located behind the main building, the 33,000 sq. ft. Club Auto Sport Phase II building will bring the complex to a total of 120,000 sq. ft. of space and be anchored by Goodies Speed Shop — which has provided speed and performance parts and services to hobbyist-owners of American “muscle” cars and other high-performance vehicles, as well as hot rodders and drag racers, from its current location on Lincoln Avenue near West San Carlos in San Jose since 1962. Goodies has signed a lease to move into five business condo units in the new building totaling approximately 8,200 sq. ft.

“The groundbreaking for phase II is a testament to the persistence and hard work of Club Auto Sports’ managing partners and staff,” said Tom Purtell, Chief Operating Officer of SiliconX Construction, which is the general contractor for the building. “While the national economy has been stuck in reverse for much of the past three and a half years since the club opened, Club Auto Sport has accelerated ahead and adapted to a changed market. It devised a winning strategy that has enabled the original building to reach approximately 90% occupancy. We’re excited to be part of the next phase at Club Auto Sport.”

The groundbreaking began with brief remarks from Ralph Borelli, a Co-Managing Partner at Club Auto Sport and President of Borelli Motor Sports; John Davis, a Co-Managing Partner at Club Auto Sport and President of TMFC; Richard French, President of Goodies Speed Shop; Purtell, and District 9 San Jose City Councilman, Donald Rocha — who’s been a Club Auto Sport enthusiast since it opened in mid-2008 — spoke about how the club’s success underscores that government’s role should be accommodating and supportive — letting innovative private business leaders find workable solutions to market challenges.

After that, it was time to bring out the traditional golden shovel. Councilman Rocha; Purtell; Borelli; Buddy Parsons, President of Borelli Investment Company; Davis and French did the honors while several hundred guests looked on.

The group then moved indoors into Borelli Motor Sports’ spacious facility to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and their favorite libations created by Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant & Bar in Palo Alto and planned by Kristina Epidendio of Simply Stunning Weddings & Events. The Christmas music played on steel drums lent an island holiday flavor to the gathering.

Unlike typical groundbreakings, this one didn’t end after a half hour or so — but instead gained momentum as the guests joined with Club Auto Sport’s holiday revelers and partied on into the night throughout the club’s business community and car condos.

The concrete tilt-up Club Auto Sport Phase II building is scheduled for completion — weather permitting — by the end of March 2012. Tony Gonzalez, SiliconX Construction’s Director of Construction Operations, will oversee the process.

SiliconX Construction, an affiliate of Borelli Investment Company, is a full-service general contractor that provides a wide array of value-focused construction services to clients throughout Northern California. Specialties include ground-up construction, major renovations, tenant improvements, and facilities maintenance. For more information, call Tom Purtell at (408) 418-0099, or e-mail tom@siliconxconstruction.com. For more information about SiliconX Construction, visit siliconxconstruction.com.

Borelli Motor Sports is a multi-faceted automotive business that provides trusted and expert maintenance and service, race rentals and premier-class storage. Racing enthusiasts can get everything from driving day prep services and trackside support for their cars to personalized coaching by racing professionals. And collectors of vintage, exotic or high-performance automobiles can arrange to store their vehicles in Borelli Motor Sports’ pristine, high-security, climate-controlled indoor space. Contact Addison Lee at (408) 770-1220, or e-mail addison@borellimotorsports.com. The company’s web site is www.borellimotorsports.com.

Club Auto Sport is the only facility in the nation to combine a dynamic business community that accelerates growth through a built-in marketplace; a stunning event center that attracts thousands of guests annually for business, charitable and social functions; and a chic club for auto enthusiasts, collectors and others tuned to the energy and imagination that drives Silicon Valley. For more information about the Club Auto Sport business community and leasing/purchasing opportunities, contact Anna Mcquillan Rose, Director of Sales and Leasing, at (408) 770-1205, or e-mail anna@clubautosport.net. For more about Club Auto Sport, visit clubautosport.net.

Goodies Speed Shop is currently located at 345 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126. The store is open Monday–Friday 9am – 6pm, and Saturday 10am – 3pm. For more information, call (408) 295-0930, or visit goodies-speedshop.com.

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