SAN JOSE — A downtown blighted lot where a student housing tower has been proposed is now up for sale, bringing uncertainty to the property’s future.

The one-acre site, at 100 through 152 North Fourth St. and next to East St. John Street, is being offered for $35 million by Saratoga-based business executive Brent Lee, who owns the property through an affiliate, according to a marketing flyer.

Commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap is working to sell the site, according to information obtained by this news organization. Brokers Kirk Trammell and Joshua Johnson are leading the sales effort.

Fires, a fatal drive-by shooting, and a dog attack have haunted the site, where a 23-story student housing tower was previously approved by San Jose officials but has yet to break ground.The tower was slated to include 298 units and 8,400 square feet of ground-floor retail spaces, documents on file with San Jose city planners show.

City planners also approved four levels of parking, with enough space for 287 vehicles and 426 bikes.

In recent years, multiple fires wrecked a pair of Victorian homes that were on the property. Lee had agreed to relocate them, but the fires occurred before the move could occur.

For several months after the blazes, the fire-scorched debris of the Victorians littered the development site.

The North Fourth Street fires, which broke out in March 2024 and August 2024, have created serious hazards for people living next door and near the fire-torched sites, according to court papers filed by Jay Huang, the operating manager of Sunding Brothers LLC, which owns a property next to the blighted vacant lots.

While the March 2024 fire leveled the two abandoned Victorian-era homes, the August fire ignited stacks of wood and debris left behind. Investigators believe one or more homeless individuals caused some of the fires, including at least one fire in the two Victorian houses.

The August 2024 blaze also forced some people to flee as flames menaced their homes, witnesses told this news organization. One teenage girl suffered smoke inhalation and had to be treated at a hospital, court records show.

City officials swept in to place the property into a court-ordered receivership in order to clear away the debris and toxic materials that were present at the site, such as asbestos and lead.

The site is now cleared of the debris, has a 24-hour camera in place to monitor the property, and is fenced off.