The buildings will have a large number of luxury features such as rooftop decks, lounges, a fitness center, two pools, and community rooms. The project even has eight penthouse four-bedroom units. The developer is going for the feel of a "New York lifestyle" in Silicon Valley.
I think this project is good news for the whole South Bay. The more residential high-rises that go up, the more accustomed Silicon Valley residents will be to this type of offering. There are many places throughout San Jose that could use large mixed-use projects like this... not just Downtown San Jose. Hopefully this helps pave the way to more developer interest.
Source: The Registry
Glad to see this is going to get built.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if they could build luxury condos (for sale) in the downtown area. I have yet to see anything in San Jose that would qualify as luxury. Maybe I am foolish and there just isn't a market for this type of building in San Jose, I know I (and other friends) would make a purchase in the downtown if there was something a bit more upscale than what is currently being built.
I was under the impression the 88 and Axis were pretty nice, but I haven't been inside. I'm not really sure how luxurious you mean.
DeleteI think Axis looks really nice, especially the architecture, the 88 seems only a step below that. Personally I bought a more affordable condo downtown, and will remodel it as I get more money over time. But yeah, the gym, pool, hallways, don't scream luxury like Axis. I guess some people though, that isn't enough. A 2bd in Axis is like $750k, I wonder what a real "luxury" building by Anon's standards would be, $820k?
DeleteLooks like Miami!
DeleteI wonder if the developer has even been to New York. I really don't think this condo is going to give people the "New York feel". It looks nice, but for 1, is not even a high rise and you still have the suburban feel around it. Even the city of San Jose looks and feels like a suburb. You can't tell the difference when cross over from Campbell, Santa Clara, and Cupertino or surrounding cities. If any city in the Bay Area has a NY feel is San Francisco. SJ or the South Bay doesn’t come close despite having a larger population. SJ is desperately trying to be in the ranks of cities like NY, Chicago, SF, LA, it’s embarrassing. SJ is just a big suburb and that’s OK. A lot of people outside the Bay Area don't even know where San Jose is.
ReplyDeleteAcross many metrics, it already is in the ranks of those types of cities and it's just a matter of time before the aesthetics catches up as well. If enough of these projects are built, it will start changing perceptions. 10 years ago nobody was living in high rises in San Jose. Now there are 4 residential towers online, 2 almost complete, 2 more under construction, and 3 more in late stage planning.
DeleteI agree that SJ is never going to be a SF, a NYC, a Chicago, a Seattle, etc...
DeleteI think that's a major part of SJ's problem, they keep trying to a SF, but that's just never going to happen.
SJ needs to find and focus on its own strengths and come to a realization that it's never going to be a city on the caliber of those I listed above. But that's OK, SJ can still do great things if it puts its mind to it. That said, SJ has come a long ways in the past years but still has a long way to go.
Couldn't disagree more. There is absolutely no reason to lower our goals or expectations, that's not a recipe for success or innovation and goes counter to the culture San Jose is building.
DeleteIf San Jose will ever come close to be in the caliber of US cities like NY, Boston, Chicago, LA, SF even San Diego it won't be in our life time. It has taken cities over a hundred years to be where they are at. Building condos like this wont help, the cities mentioned have highrises, near water, views, landmarks, tourist destinations etc. Its going to have to do a lot more than mid rise condos. The other issue is that SJ will always be in the shadow of San Francisco which does have the things mentioned
DeleteNot trying to talk down on San Jose, it is a nice, clean city, decent place to live, raise a family etc. The point I want to make is that is not a big major city and that's fine. But if that is the goal is to be taken as a real major intentional city like the ones mentioned, I don't think buildings like this is the answer and it wont give the " NY lifestyle" that developer talks about. More like a Walnut Creek lifestyle, maybe even San Diego but I certainly don't think New York seeing that building.
JT, show me where in Walnut Creek do you see buildings like this? And I'm not even sure what you are saying, that these buildings should not be built?
DeleteI'm not sure why the hate for these high-rises? If South Bay doesn't build high rise, people condemn us. If we build high-rise, we get a bunch of haters coming in to talk shit. So which is it? Make up your mind people.
San Jose doesn't need to come close to other cities, they are a hundred years ahead of us. San Jose doesn't need to come out under SF's shadow, because San Jose people doesn't really give a fvck whether or not there is even a shadow.
What San Jose needs to do is live up to its own potential. It's a good city, and can be better. We don't need, or care, to be a major international city, that's not the goal. The goal is to make the best of our situations and maximize our potentials.
By the way, Josh. You need to regulate the trolls. The first one that posted talking shit at the bottom should not be tolerated. I understand you like to be very tolerant, but the whole point of this topic was to discuss the high-rise, not for some Anonymous to log in and start denigrating (wrongly) our region.
DeleteYeah, that was the post where I drew the line =)
Delete"Dirt Patch" is back in full force LOL!
DeleteBob. I was disagreeing with the developer of the condo having “New York Lifestyle.” I like the building and more of these will improve San Jose. What I am trying to say is building more of these mid-rise condos won’t get you that New Your Lifestyle or Big City feel if that is where they are trying to go with this.
DeleteJust to clarify. I am all for building more of these type buildings but this is not a high rise, its a mid rise. Either one I'm for it. Like you said, If the goal is to make the best of the situations and maximize potentials than it will accomplish that. If the goal is to be in the likes of a New York, Chicago, SF than it won't. Witch I'm OK with
Don't worry about the "NY lifestyle", it's just marketing speak. Don't get too hung up about it.
DeleteAnd buildings don't give you the Big City feel. PEOPLE are what gives the Big City feel. Large gatherings of PEOPLE, conversing, interacting, eating, enjoying, that's what gives a BIG CITY feel. But in order to increase the mass of people, we will need to squeeze as many of them in as little of a footprint as possible, in order to increase density.
So we should welcome all types of these buildings, high-rise or mid-rise. Don't worry so much about "NY lifestyle" or "Big City" feel, let's worry about building them first :)
Our goal really should not be to become NY, or Chicago, or SF. Densification is needed, but at some point it becomes overcrowding. We should not want gridlocked traffic. We should not want high crime rate. We should not want an army of peddlers. We should not want filthy city centers.
What we can get out of SF and Chicago and NYC are public transportation efficiency, social enjoyment, support for the arts and cultures, and economic opportunities.
In my opinion, we should want to be like Portland, Seattle, even San Diego or Vancouver. Cities that have dense, vibrant city centers, yet are not overcrowded and is always accessible to both cars and public transit. These are cities that let you live both the urban lifestyle and the suburban lifestyle. They give you the choice to drive, and to bike, or to take public transportation. They give you both big box stores and boutique shops.
These are the cities I hope that San Jose will mirror itself after. They are great, important mid-sized cities that, although not world-class, are beautiful gems in their own right.
If San Jose's destiny is as a future "world-class" city, then I'm all for it. Until then, let's just simply push ahead with making our city better this year than it was last year, and that in 10 years it will be 10x as better. Let's concentrate on that. And let's not bother ourselves with "be like SF" or "NY lifestyle", as we are not like those cities at all. We however, can try and "be like the FULLY-REALIZED San Jose" where its potentials are fulfilled.
The developer means that the building and condo's themselves will have an urban living feel like a New York highrise condo building, with a doorman, front desk, concierge, and the other amenities. The developer didn't mean the tenants are going to be able to walk out of their building and be in a 5th Avenue, or Times Square highly urbanized environment or streetscape (obviously). Projects above 20 or 30 floors may never be built in Silicon Valley, because of 1) Lack of demand 2) Zoning, planning, and parcel requirements 3) Neighborhood association objections or environmental considerations 4) and other similar considerations. Silicon Valley is very large compared to Manhattan or SF, and has a lot of potential land to build on. So there is no real need to go vertical. Despite that fact, Silicon Valley is already a more densely populated metro/city than many cities that have high rises outside of the CBD, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc. So despite some available land, and no pressing need to build high rises, -actually building them usually involves demolition of some existing building, and/or other regulatory considerations. Developers are not as likely to take the risk of developing skyscrapers here, until the pressing need/urbanization exists; -until they can justify the financial risk. Therefore the greater the population rises in time (density), and the more mid-rises/high rises that are built, the more likely that someday taller buildings will be built here.
DeleteThis project was designed for overseas investors. Consequently, you won't see many lights on at night since most of the units will remain unoccupied. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the investors will rent them out, thus you will see lights :)
DeleteThis thing is going to stick out like a sore thumb.
ReplyDeleteYeah it will, but the rest of the South Bay has got to start densifying at some point. We can't let that little bit of "sore thumb" bit stop us from being more efficient with our precious land.
DeleteNot necessarily -- the Crowne Plaza (12 stories) is really close to this project. There was also a project to redevelop Milpitas Square (where 99 Ranch is) a while back with residential over ground floor commercial/retail, but it died when the recession hit. There's a chance it will be brought back to life. Here's a link to that: http://www.vmwp.com/projects/pdfs/milpitas.pdf
DeleteI agree the South Bay needs density, but it needs to be in the right places, such as in downtown SJ. This project is in the middle of two Asian strip malls and Cisco buildings.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with Joshua. We should never lower our goals. The cities listed above are cities of the past. We need to aspire to be Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul or Dubai :D :D ... But as more people move high rises. the BART second phase gets built. Its going to be a smart, compact city. San Jose is going to be a much better investment in real estate from a price point in my opinion
ReplyDeleteThe common theme amongst the worlds most livable cities is great public transportation. (Zurich, Copenhagen, Singapore, Tokyo, Berlin, etc.) I just don't see San Jose ever being considered a truly "livable or great" city until we invest in public transportation infrastructure. (regional trains, trams, buses, bikes) BART is not the answer.
DeleteTraffic! Gridlock!
ReplyDeleteSan Jose has plenty of spots for HIgh Rise buildings 40+ floors! Why not? Other cities build them away from downtown. Why not San Jose? if San Jose doesn't do it. Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Milpitas or some other adjacent city will start building an impressive skyline to that will attract people.
ReplyDelete