The Endangered 8: 2025
San José's Most Threatened Architectural and Cultural Landmarks
Learn More and Take Action!
Contact Z&L properties at info@zlproperties.com and urge them to sell the property to a preservation-minded new owner.
Read PAC*SJ's 1991 rehabilition/adaptive reuse study.
Read the 2023 staff memorandum (6/8/2023) outlining the City's current abatement and enforcement options for the property.
If you see something, say something! Report suspected code violations or suspicious activities to the City of San Jose.
First Church of Christ, Scientist
Location:
43 E. St. James Street
Date:
Built 1905
Architect:
Willis Polk
Threat:
Neglect, Redevelopment
In March 2025, Mayor Matt Mahan announced that the City would seek to regain ownership of the former First Church of Christ, Scientist building through eminent domain, citing the “prolonged neglect” by current owner Z&L Properties. Built in 1905 and designed by famed architect Willis Polk, this Neoclassical gem remains one of the most architecturally significant yet most neglected buildings in the city, and PAC*SJ strongly supports this new and long-overdue mayoral directive. Yet we remain concerned by the absence of an actionable preservation and adaptive reuse plan should control ultimately transfer to a new owner. City policymakers continue to prioritize new construction on the church’s adjacent acreage over the immediate adaptive reuse potential of the church itself, a failed strategy for the past 30+ years. With Hillbrook School and the Levitt Pavilion both making significant investments in the surrounding St. James Park Historic District, a new vision for First Church’s redevelopment has never been more timely.