"We have no intention or plan to develop the surrounding open space. Our team has local roots, and we know how much the trails and hillsides matter to this community." Blackstart Digital gave that statement to the Mercury News on September 29, after an affiliate of the company agreed to buy the former IBM Almaden Research Center at 650 Harry Road.
Five weeks earlier, on the other side of the same hillside, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a trail plan. It will change how people park at the Stile Ranch trailhead on San Vicente Avenue and how they walk from there into Calero County Park. The two decisions are moving on different schedules. The trail plan, the change people will actually see, is approved, and its first phase is funded through design. The question underneath the trail itself has gotten no public answer from anyone in 2026.
A Trail That Crosses IBM Land
The Stile Ranch Trail starts at the staging area on San Vicente Avenue near Fortini Road, just off McKean Road in south Almaden Valley. It climbs a set of switchbacks and drops into a small creek valley. Then it runs past the green buildings of the research center and ends at the Mine Trail. According to the Friends of Santa Teresa Park, most of it "actually runs through an easement on IBM's property." The research center and its roads stay closed to the public. Another page from the same volunteer group says part of IBM's southeast property "was provided as an easement to form the Stile Ranch Trail."
The County lists a 2.5-mile docent loop on this ground that uses the Stile Ranch, Mine and Fortini trails. The County's route flyer for the Stile Ranch-to-Fortini route says "Hikers and Equestrians are permitted on this route" and adds "(No bicycles)." The Friends group also identifies the Stile Ranch and Mine trails as part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail route through Santa Teresa County Park, which continues toward Coyote Peak.
None of the 2026 public records we reviewed addresses that easement. The City's August 7 staff report and the draft rezoning ordinance cover acreage and zoning districts. Neither one includes a provision on Stile Ranch trail access or identifies a trail easement. We also found no sale document or Blackstart statement that says whether the easement is recorded or what it allows.
What the August Vote Actually Did
On August 18, the San Jose City Council voted 9-2 to rezone the campus. About 35 acres where the buildings sit became an industrial park zoning district. The surrounding land, about 565 acres, became an open space district. City officials said the vote by itself did not approve permits for any business activity or redevelopment on the site.
Two days before the meeting, six organizations sent a joint letter asking the Council to defer the vote: Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, Green Foothills, the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, the CNPS Santa Clara Valley Chapter and Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action. They welcomed the open space zoning but questioned how long it would last:
"Rezoning approximately 565 acres to Open Space is welcome, but zoning can later be changed and is not permanent legal protection."
The letter traces how far back this goes. In 1998, the City's planning director wrote that the City and IBM intended to keep this land as "permanent open space." In December 1999, the Council directed staff to "pursue a legally binding agreement to permanently protect the 540 acres of open space surrounding the Almaden Research Center." The groups asked the City to disclose any conservation easement or deed restriction that came out of that direction, and the staff report did not say.
The letter also raised a separate access question about the gated Bernal Avenue road through Santa Teresa County Park. According to City records cited in the letter, IBM originally built that road for emergency evacuation. It later served daytime commuters and was closed at night. That road and the Stile Ranch trail easement are separate issues.
According to the Mercury News, at least 30 people spoke at the hearing, and most of them opposed the rezoning. Councilmembers Rosemary Kamei and Pamela Campos voted no and asked for more time for community input. District 10 Councilmember George Casey did not want to wait. "I don't want to be performative about it and just give folks an opportunity to vent when they're not actually going to change anything," he said.
What the Buyer Says It Plans
Blackstart Digital's affiliate expects to close the purchase before the end of 2026. San José Spotlight describes the company as a data center development and investment firm. The campus has seven buildings with more than 500,000 square feet, several generations of existing data center facilities and an on-site 25-megawatt power station that IBM built. The company told reporters, "We intend to expand capacity, subject to power availability." It also lists research and development, startup incubators, academic partnerships and quantum computing as possible uses. It says it plans closed-loop cooling, battery safety systems, noise mitigation and software to reduce energy use at peak demand.
People who use the trail have heard these concerns before. In August, Alice Kaufman of Green Foothills told San José Spotlight that data center generators could add air and noise pollution affecting people and wildlife, and that development could bring more traffic. In San José Spotlight's October 1 coverage, Kaufman added that noise, nighttime lighting and human activity from a data center or similar industrial use could significantly affect the site's ecology.
The timeline is long. According to the Mercury News, Blackstart filed for environmental review on June 2 with July 2028 as its target for a hearing and possible decision. A Planning Department spokesperson told San José Spotlight that no other application has been filed for the property. Any expansion still has to go through permitting, environmental review and a public process.
The County Side Is Already Decided
At the bottom of the same hill, the County has already made its decision. In 2022, County Parks bought the 47-acre Fortini Property, which runs along Fortini Road between McKean Road and San Vicente Avenue as an extension of Calero County Park. On August 25, 2026, the Board of Supervisors adopted its site plan unanimously. The County's project page still says the Board "will consider" the plan, but the motion record shows the vote.
The plan includes the following, according to the Board memo:
- A multi-use trail between the Stile Ranch trailhead and Calero's Rancho San Vicente lot, open to hikers, bikers, equestrians and leashed dogs.
- Two seasonal trails beside it for pedestrians and leashed dogs only.
- Bridges over Santa Teresa Creek and Arroyo Calero so the multi-use trail can stay open year-round, plus rest areas, a vista point, picnic tables and interpretive panels.
- A signalized crossing on McKean Road and a raised crosswalk on San Vicente Avenue.
- A new staging area next to the existing Rancho San Vicente parking lot. A second one could come later along San Vicente Avenue to replace the roadside parking at the Stile Ranch entrance.
County documents give different total lengths. The Board memo says about 1.25 miles of trail. The environmental document says about 1.1 miles: a 0.7-mile main trail plus 0.4 miles of seasonal paths. The environmental document sketches the future San Vicente lot at about 28 standard spaces, two horse-trailer spaces and two accessible spaces. The new lot next to Rancho San Vicente would have about 59 standard and three accessible spaces.
The plan was shaped by the public input the County collected. According to the site plan report, the most common concerns were crossing McKean Road safely, more traffic on Fortini Road and San Vicente Avenue, existing street parking and use of the Stile Ranch staging area after park hours. The adopted plan puts the controlled crossing at Fortini and McKean and keeps most new parking near Rancho San Vicente.
The Two Schedules
The trailhead's next few years depend on two separate sets of dates:
- FY 2027: County Parks Charter Fund money fully covers design and permitting for the first phase of the Fortini plan.
- By the end of 2026: Blackstart's affiliate expects to close on the IBM campus.
- As early as April 2027: Fortini construction could start and would take about seven months.
- July 2028: Blackstart's target for a City hearing on its environmental review.
The improvements at the base of the trail are funded, mapped and scheduled. The land the trail climbs through belongs to a seller with a pending deal. The new zoning there can be changed later, and the 2026 record has nothing on the easement. If the Fortini work starts on time, the new parking and crossings will be in place before the City holds its hearing on the hilltop.
The Trailhead This Month
The County's closures page, updated October 2, lists no trail closures at Santa Teresa County Park or at Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Santa Teresa is open from 8 a.m. until sunset, and its trails open at sunrise. The Calero Boat Launch parking lot will be closed on Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22, for restriping.
Two events nearby fit around a morning hike. The Almaden Branch Library is celebrating its 20th anniversary at the annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 6445 Camden Ave. The festival includes live entertainment, plus a Haunted Hallway and Pumpkin Patch that require tickets. County Parks is also running its free Fall 2026 Neighborhood Naturalists course for adults on October 8, 15 and 22, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum, 21350 Almaden Road.
Projects like the Fortini plan and the IBM sale can come up when you buy or sell in south Almaden, because what's planned or pending nearby can affect a decision. The Samit Shah Team tracks County Parks approvals and City land-use filings for the hillside neighborhoods we work in. If you're thinking about a home near San Vicente Avenue or McKean Road and want to know how these projects might affect it, get in touch.
