Will San Jose protect 500+ acres around former IBM site?

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is pushing for permanent environmental protections for more than 500 acres of open space around a former tech research center being purchased by a data center developer. At an Oct. 16 Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association meeting, Mahan said he is working with District 10 Councilmember George Casey to protect the 565 acres of open space around the IBM Almaden Research Center, a 35-acre industrial park in the rolling hills of Coyote Valley. The site is being acquired by Blackstart Digital, a data center development and investment firm focused on sustainable redevelopment, though a spokesperson has said the company doesn t intend to develop the surrounding open space. “The thing folks are upset about, rightly, is that when IBM initially built out the campus there, they said that they intended for the open space to be in perpetuity,” Mahan said at the meeting. “But they never created any legally binding easement. Now there is a new owner we are goi