NEWS RELEASE: San José Home to First Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Condo Sale in California
Post Date:06/30/2026 1:30 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Marika Krause, Public Information Manager, Planning, Building and Code Enforcement
408.534-2946; marika.krause@sanjoseca.gov
San José Home to First Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Condo Sale in California
SAN JOSE, Calif. (June 30, 2026) – The first Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) condominium in California history was sold in San José, pioneering a new path to home ownership in the Bay Area. The 749-square-foot home on Josefina Street, near downtown was the first ADU condominium conversion in August of 2025, allowing it to be sold separately from the main property.
“We are committed to creating opportunities for everyone to thrive in San José. This milestone reflects the impact of City staff working collaboratively to develop innovative policies that make a meaningful difference in the lives of our residents,” said San José City Manager Jennifer Maguire.
San José became the first city in California to approve the sale of ADUs in July of 2024, after the state approved AB1033 allowing cities to adopt ADU condoization to increase the housing supply. The policy was a collaborative effort between the City’s Planning, Building and Code Enforcement and Public Works departments to help streamline the development of more homes. San José’s streamlined processing allowed Bay Area real estate developer AlphaX RE Capital speed through permitting process in just 60 days, not including review time by the applicant.
“We’re unlocking homeownership opportunities at lower price points, one ADU at a time,” said Mayor Matt Mahan. “San José was the first city in the state to allow ADU sales, and now we’re the first city in California to see an ADU sold as a standalone home. We’re not waiting for costs to come down — we’re using innovative policies to create affordability wherever we can.”
The two bedroom/one bath home closed for $530,000 this month. Developers say the property feels more like a single-family home than a typical condo or townhouse due to its new construction, detached utilities, private parking, exterior main entry door, and no Homeowner Association (HOA) fees. They hope to repeat the process and reduce costs after lessons learned from building the first ADU Condo.
“Our team is very excited because this closing is a true proof of concept for what AlphaX has been trying to achieve,” said Jia Li, Chief Asset Management Officer at AlphaX RE Capital. “It shows that there is a real market for small, ground-up, for-sale starter homes in San José — especially for working families who are priced out of traditional homeownership."
The City has developed many tools to help homeowners decide if building and selling an ADU makes sense for their properties. The ADU Condominium Checklist is a step-by-step guide to see if properties qualify for a condominium conversion. The Building Division also has two ADU Ally positions to help navigate the process. The City also created the ADU Universal Checklist in 2024, a roadmap commended by other municipalities for synthesizing complex information and streamlining the permitting application process across Planning, Building, Fire, and Public Works. The first-of-its-kind guide allows property owners to navigate several permitting processes at once and legally build ADUs faster than ever before.
About the City of San José With almost 1 million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California’s largest city and the 13th largest city in the nation. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world.
