Fire Chars New San Jose Complex Before It Opens

A fire on Monday raced through Santana Row, San Jose’s new $500-million housing and shopping center that was expected to help a region reeling from the dot-com bust and sagging economy.

“It’s a major loss for this project to go down,” said Fred Phillips, a local retail consultant. “There are millions and millions and millions of dollars going up in flames right now.”

The center, intended to draw shoppers and residents from throughout Silicon Valley, had been scheduled to open Sept. 19.

More than 1,500 construction workers had been rushing to put finishing touches on the complex in time.

Burning embers from the fire ignited a nearby apartment building, rendering 39 apartments uninhabitable and leaving more than 100 people homeless, said Lisa Smyth of the San Jose Fire Department.

The fire erupted about 3 p.m., eventually consuming one of nine buildings at the 42-acre complex.

Tom Miles, general manager of the property, said he was in his office in an adjacent building when he saw billowing smoke.

He ran outside and saw the flames, and he and co-workers began running around the site calling workers to safety.

Battalion Chief Greg Stence called the blaze “the biggest I’ve been through” in 27 years on the job.

“At its peak, the whole place was in flames, corner to corner and edge to edge,” he said.

“There was a huge column of black smoke, sections of the wall were falling down. It was adrenaline-raising.”

Homes and businesses within half a mile of the site were evacuated.

As flames reached 100 feet, cinders blew onto nearby apartments, where residents tried to douse them with garden hoses and packed their possessions.

Miles said it was too soon to know whether the destruction was total or only partial.

“We’re pretty sure from the looks of it that the 246 residential units are a complete loss,” he said. “We hope we’ll be able to salvage a lot of what’s on the parking deck. It’s still smoldering out there.”

Firefighters from San Jose and neighboring cities extinguished the fire in about three hours.

“It’s a blow,” said San Jose Councilman Ken Yeager. “Everyone had high expectations.... There’s just a big sense of loss.”

Fire officials said it will be a few days before they know the cause

The project was designed to replicate the feel of a European street scene and was billed as a vibrant new urban neighborhood.

It was to include 1,200 luxury residences, a hotel, a 36-store shopping center with high-end retailers such as Escada and Gucci, a farmers market, restaurants and cafes.

More than 700 people had been expected to move into apartments on the north end of the property in October.

Developers don’t know yet if those apartments were damaged or will be habitable in time. Studios in the development start at about $700. A two-bedroom loft rents for about $3,200 a month.

Keith Taylor, 27, who lives about half a mile from the blaze, had planned to rent one of the new two-bedroom apartments.

“It was just the ultimate place you would want to live,” Taylor said. “I would only have to walk down the stairs. It is a self-contained community.”

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Associated Press contributed to this report