The big news in downtown San Jose real estate is that Centex Corporation has sold its Plant 51 development for $161 million to a joint venture led by Dallas-based RSF Partners Inc. Plant 51 is the 265-unit loft and condo project which involved converting the former Del Monte cannery into homes. According to a Centex representative, Plant 51 is currently only 70 percent completed. Purchasers who had placed a deposit for a unit at Plant 51 recently began receiving phone calls from Plant 51 sales representatives informing them of the sale of the complex. It is unknown at this time whether the joint venture group will continue to sell the units or convert the project into rental apartments.

The sale by Centex was part of a portfolio sale which included 8,500 lots in 11 states. The total value of the portfolio sale was $455 million. Other members of the joint venture which purchased Plant 51 include San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management and Greenfield Partners of Connecticutt.