North San Jose is the part of the city north of US-101 and west of I-880 or Coyote Creek, south of State Route 237, and it is built for R&D, network equipment and server halls. The city's own area policy measured its industrial-park floor-area ratio at 0.34 in 2000, which means buildings covered about a third as much floor as the land under them.
The city's North San Jose area development policy defines the district as north of US-101, west of I-880 or Coyote Creek and south of SR-237. The ZIPs are 95134, 95131 and 95002, the last shared with Alviso. A district guide for commercial real estate describes it as a large office, R&D and industrial/flex district shaped by airport access, US-101, I-880, SR-237, light rail and larger-parcel technology campuses.
Listings in the district include R&D and flex buildings along Zanker Road and Montague Expressway, and a multi-building life sciences and advanced industrial campus near Junction Avenue and Zanker Road.
San Jose requires a Special Use Permit for a data center, heard at the Planning Director's Hearings. Developers have therefore labelled some proposals R&D buildings; one reported plan by Google for up to three R&D facilities of nearly 483,000 square feet on Disk Drive drew criticism that the label hides a data center, and Google said it was seeking a site development permit for R&D use. Whatever the outcome, buildings of that size mean deliveries of racks and cooling plant.
Prologis is the city's preferred developer for 159 acres at SR-237 and Zanker Road, planned as a data center and advanced manufacturing campus with an estimated 6,000 jobs. That site lies at the Alviso end of the district.
| Building type | What gets left | How to describe it |
|---|---|---|
| R&D and lab fit-outs | Equipment pallets, crates, lumber from packaging | Dimensions per crate type; count |
| Data-hall deliveries | Rack pallets, cooling-unit skids | Mix of 48x40 and one-off skids; count per delivery |
| Network-equipment makers | Parts pallets by the trailer | Steady weekly count, mostly 48x40 |
| Life-science tenants | Clean pallets from lab supplies | Grade, cleanliness, count |
One-off builds dominate: a fit-out leaves a pile once. Say that, and say how soon the loading dock is needed for the next delivery.
North of US-101, west of I-880 or Coyote Creek and south of SR-237, per the city's area policy.
Yes. The city requires a Special Use Permit heard at the Planning Director's Hearings.
Sources, last reviewed 12 November 2026