SAN JOSE >> High-density housing could sprout on a choice site near San Jose’s lively Japantown neighborhood due to a preliminary effort to determine whether it’s suitable for such a development.

Five property owners are attempting to gauge the views of San Jose planners regarding the viability of a housing development on the site, which is at North First Street and East Taylor Street, city documents show.

“Five contiguous properties on the corner of North First Street and East Taylor Street in San Jose have been owned since 1979 by a limited liability partnership,” according to the preliminary plans on file with city officials. “The five partners are working together to sell the properties.”

The properties have addresses of 678, 684, 692 and 698 N. First St. and 20 E. Taylor St., the San Jose planning documents indicate.

Uchiban Properties owns the parcels. Uchiban Properties is located at the same 692 N. First St. address where Ron Uchishiba operates a certified public accountant and management consultant business.

Uchishiba couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

“Given the contiguity of the five parcels, combining them would potentially create an opportunity for higher residential density or higher impact development at a key ‘gateway’ central to a transit urban village,” the planning documents state.

The five partners in the Uchiban Properties entity are attempting to gauge the feasibility of development on the combined site, which totals slightly more than half an acre. Another option would determine whether the five parcels could be developed individually.

The group of owners now operating as Uchiban Properties has owned the five sites since 1979. A hair salon, accountant and chiropractor operate in three of the five buildings.

One of the buildings is a residence. The fifth building, at 20 E. Taylor St., has been unoccupied since a fire occurred at an unspecified date.

One possible challenge for development on the site: The structures at 692 and 698 N. First St. are deemed to be a “historic resource” in the city’s database, according to the planning documents.

The buildings are not, however, historic landmarks.

A historic resource is deemed to be less of an impediment than a historic landmark, which typically couldn’t be bulldozed or have its exterior substantially modified.

“The North First Street Local Transit Village Plan provides a vision for a well-connected, mixed-use, economically diverse, vibrant, affordable and sustainable destination,” the city of San Jose stated in 2022 as part of its creation of the plans for the area.

This transit village’s boundaries start at Interstate 880 on the north, and extend along North First Street and North Second Street southward to Hensley Street.

“These parcels are located in an important urban location and represent an opportunity for new development that would help the city achieve many of the pedestrian-oriented goals for the North First Street Transit Village,” the proposal documents state.

City officials see plenty of opportunities for housing development and job creation in this corridor, according to a January 2022 CEQA report regarding the site.

“The village’s assigned amount of future growth” could equate to “2,520 new jobs and up to 1,678 units of new residential would occur within the village’s boundaries,” the city’s January 2022 report stated.

The North First Street corridor between downtown San Jose and the Alviso district miles to the north has become the focus for other proposals for huge housing projects in recent years, partly due to the meltdown of the office and hotel markets in the Bay Area.

Developers see housing as a viable alternative to the moribund office and lodging sectors in the region.

The property owners believe a variety of uses could be developed on the site, which in addition to its proximity to downtown San Jose, is also near the city’s airport, parks and the Guadalupe River waterway.

Plus two light-rail stations are within a five-minute walk of the North First and East Taylor intersection.

“Knowing in advance what options might be available will help us market the property in a way that is consistent with the city’s overall desire for high-intensity development,” the planning documents state.