Plant 51 History
Plant 51 has a rich history and there are many tidbits that make for good cocktail conversation.
The location was originally home to the Pacific Wine Company, and was sold to CalPack
The plant was owned by Calpak (rebranded as Del Monte).
Del Monte centralized most of its dried fruit processing and packing to Plant 51 in 1926.
The building originally was two stories, with the warehouse on the first floor and a high-ceiling second floor where grading and processing happened.
The south end of the building housed the sulfur rooms used as part of the preservative process.
The boiler room is where the fitness center is now.
The location was closed 1990 and the operations were moved to Fresno.
Historic rehabilitation and residential conversion took 5+ years, with 3 owners:
Castle Co.
Farallon of San Francisco, RSF Partners of Dallas and Greenfield Partners of South Norwalk, Conn.
It finally opened in 2014
Plant 51 prior to renovations
Photo courtesy Robert Vasona
Developer Descriptions
From the sales site: "Built a century ago, the historic Plant 51 cannery has been reborn as a new residential community of lofts and flats. A contemporary collection of living spaces and outdoor experiences that bring together beautiful design, unique character and an honest-to-goodness neighborhood. And now you can call it home."
From Devcon Contruction: "482,261 project consisting of three individual 5-level structures consisting of 265 luxury condominium units, formed by five unique floor plan layouts ranging from 750 SF to 1,600 SF situated on a 4.5 acre site. A 2-level commons building located in the center of the development includes a fitness center and meeting area. The structures are divided by landscaped courtyard areas resting on a concrete podium 12’ above street level and the building exterior is made up of a preserved historical brick façade with in-fill plaster and metal panel sections. Below is an underground 454 stall parking garage with tenant lockers and access to the elevators. The structures are supported by the Dietrich system, made up of high-strength steel framing and structural light gauge metal framing. Architect: Steinberg Architects"
From SKS Investments: "Plant 51 was previously a fruit drying and canning facility for the Del Monte Corporation. The property is located at the corner of The Alameda & Bush Streets in the Midtown section of San Jose. Midtown is a rapidly redeveloping neighborhood just west of downtown, several blocks from the HP Pavilion and immediately adjacent to the historic Diridon inter-modal transit station. The project was entitled and fully renovated into a 265 unit residential condominium complex."
Articles Blogs Exhibits
Owner set to open old Del Monte cannery as homes (2/15/2009)
http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2013/06/dried-fruit-packing-houses-of-santa.html
