SUNNYVALE — A tech titan has expanded his shopping spree for Bay Area real estate by purchasing a nondescript building in the South Bay, a buying spree that now tops well over a quarter of a billion dollars.
Applied Materials paid $15 million to buy an industrial building and warehouse in Sunnyvale, according to documents filed April 9 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
The building is located at 222 Commercial Street in Sunnyvale and totals 24,000 square feet, according to commercial property listing service Loopnet.
Santa Clara-based Applied Materials has collected numerous properties in Sunnyvale in recent years.
The semiconductor equipment maker’s real estate purchases in Sunnyvale are all relatively close to the company’s headquarters on Bowers Avenue in Santa Clara.
Including the most recent acquisition, Applied Materials paid $296.4 million to purchase an assortment of properties in Sunnyvale.
The maker of equipment for producing semiconductors and displays has also turned to subleasing deals to expand its presence in its hometown of Santa Clara.
Applied Materials subleased 246,000 square feet of space to Aruba Networks at 3333 Scott Blvd. in Santa Clara, taking up this whole office building. The company also subleased 122,000 square feet at 3325 Scott Blvd. from Palo Alto Networks.
Applied Materials’ quest to collect properties in Sunnyvale began in August 2018, when it purchased a building at 928 East Arques Avenue.
These agreements are a reminder that the companies that make up the Silicon Valley economy never operate at the same pace.
The largest transaction in Applied’s Sunnyvale buying efforts occurred in 2019 when the company paid $100.9 million for a technology campus consisting of large office buildings leased to Apple with addresses ranging from 1050 at 1090 East Arques.
Other property purchases may be in the works, according to county documents.
In July 2023, Applied Materials disclosed that it had reached an agreement to purchase the shuttered Fry’s Electronics location at 1077 East Arques, based on public documents filed with county officials. However, as of early April, this agreement was not yet finalized.
Sunnyvale property purchases could be poised to bolster the company’s plans for a massive new technology complex that Applied Materials is planning.
The future Applied Materials Complex is known as the Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization Center.
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