A years-long tug-of-war over a sliver of downtown San Jose real estate is on track to land in front of a jury this spring, even though the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority now says it does not need the land for the BART extension after all. The fight centers on how the site should be developed and how much VTA must pay if it takes the property. A jury trial, if it happens, could drop a dollar figure that reshapes the financial math for both the transit agency and a planned housing tower.
Court papers cited by The Mercury News show VTA is still the plaintiff in the eminent-domain case, even as it tells the court that a redesigned Downtown San Jose station no longer needs those parcels. According to the filings, both sides asked for more time to wrap up depositions in November 2025, and a jury trial could start as soon as April 2026. The case remains active in Santa Clara County, despite VTA saying it has stepped away from pursuing the site for its revised station design.
The parcel at 17 East Santa Clara Street is the proposed home of the Eterna Tower, a roughly 26-story, 192-unit residential project, according to the City of San Jose planning file. City of San José records show the project was filed within the last few years and has not yet broken ground, while earlier coverage traces VTA’s eminent-domain lawsuits over downtown parcels back to 2022. The Real Deal documented the agency’s initial push to seize the site.
Jury Could Set the Price
Even with VTA now saying the redesigned BART station no longer requires the parcels, the real fight that remains is more about money than control. In court papers quoted by The Mercury News, an affiliate of Downtown SJ Towers wrote that the VTA seeks to take the defendant’s property. The primary issue in the case will be compensation. In other words, the question is not whether VTA can take the land, but what the check might look like…