SAN JOSE — Housing sales are being completed in a San Jose condominium complex that’s one of several properties mired in a massive Bay Area real estate fraud case, raising hopes for investors who lost money.
The residential sales are being conducted in a 96-unit condo development known as Almaden Terraces, located in south San Jose at 1853 Almaden Road.
As of Sept. 30, seven of the condos had been sold to owners at prices that averaged $768,000, according to this news organization’s analysis of documents filed with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
The condo sales raise hopes — however faint — that those who were allegedly swindled in a vast fraud case might recover at least a fraction of what they lost when they invested in properties developed by Bay Area real estate executive Sanjeev Acharya and his company Silicon Sage Builders.
In late 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Acharya and Silicon Sage that claimed they defrauded an estimated 250 people — many of South Asian ethnicity — who paid about $119 million to invest in projects that Acharya launched.
As part of the proceeding, a federal court shoved the Silicon Sage real estate holdings into receivership to sell the properties and in some cases, complete their development so they could be sold.
That was the case with the San Jose condo development on Almaden Road. The project has been under construction for about three years and was completed earlier this year, enabling the sales process to begin in earnest.
It’s not clear how much — if any — money from the property sales might flow to the defrauded investors.
“The receiver continues to support the sales effort of the Almaden units and has coordinated signage for marketing purposes and the development of a sales website,” stated a filing earlier this year with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. “The receiver is exploring options to increase sales velocity at the project.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether any of the new owners had moved into their units yet. The most recent purchase was completed and recorded on Sept. 30, the county documents show.
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One of the key challenges facing the receiver and the defrauded investors is that Acres Loan Origination provided an affiliate controlled by Acharya and Silicon Sage with a $41.9 million construction loan in 2018 to build the project.
Prior court filings have indicated that at least some of the proceeds from condo sales would be used to repay at least a portion of that loan.
Amenities at The Almaden condo complex include a pool, spa, fitness room, clubhouse, and bike storage room. An outdoor courtyard includes barbecues and gathering spaces.
The sales that have occurred ranged from a low of $660,000 to a high of $980,000, the Santa Clara County real estate records show.
The units in the San Jose condo complex range in size from 679 square feet up to 1,299 square feet.
Prices start at $585,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bath condominium and go up to $1.02 million for a three-bedroom, two-bath condo.
The sales website also touted the location of the condo complex.
“These new homes are adjacent to the highly coveted Willow Glen area of San Jose,” the sales website states. “The Almaden backs up along the Guadalupe River. The Almaden is just a quick 10-minute commute to downtown San Jose.”