Nathan Donato-Weinstein from the SVBJ has an epic scoop that made my week. A 25-story high rise called Volar has been proposed for 350 S. Winchester Avenue. This was the only parcel in the area that Federal Realty was not able to acquire for Santana Row. Currently, the site has a two story commercial building with Eli Thomas Menswear as a tenant. That parcel could become one of the most iconic buildings in San Jose, and a testament that high-rise residential could work outside of Downtown San Jose.
If built, Volar would very likely be the tallest building in San Jose and possibly even the tallest between San Francisco and Los Angeles. If those are tall ceilings--which I'm assuming will be the case given its location--it could break 300 feet in height. The project has two floors of commercial/retail space totaling 50,000 SQFT followed by 23 floors containing 330 residential units. Massive balconies drape a huge portion of the building. There is a two-story atrium at the very top of that would house a rooftop restaurant! It even looks like the whole roof could be accessible based on the renderings below.
Volar also has one little surprise feature that would be a first in Silicon Valley, an automated garage. It works similar to an ATM. You park in a bay, get out, and the car gets loaded into the garage. When you need your car you go back to the bay, enter a code, and it gets delivered in 60 seconds. This allows more cars to be stored in a small space.
While this all seems too good to be true, it looks like this project has legs. Financing is lined up and they are ready to build as soon as the project gets city approval. The plans were just submitted last week--hopefully the city will fast-track this one!!
Source: SVBJ
That is a HUGE amount of exciting development in Santana Row. I hope VTA and the city governments along Stevens Creek can fast-track Bus Rapid Transit improvements for the 23/323 bus WITH dedicated lanes. Light rail should be in the long term vision but seeing as how VTA is spending most of their capital budget on BART, BRT might be the most affordable choice. Either way, transit to an area with lots of offices and SHOPS is super important. One of my favorite things about Westfield San Francisco and Union Square is how close they are to BART. No need to hunt for parking.
ReplyDeleteI like it! But that's too creative a design to undertake. Not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteEternal pessimism, that's why we can't have anything good in this City
DeleteThis would look great in Miami beach, but terrible for Santana Row. I expect federal realty to aid in killing this, as it would impact SR negatively. The residents of SR and the neighbouring burbs will also put this down. My guess is that there is be a new 6 story mixed use there eventually.
ReplyDeleteThis would add 500 or so residents that would become heavy patrons of Santana Row and should positively impact the aesthetics of the area. It will also likely impact property values in a positive way. I don't think Federal Realty will push back very hard against the proposal.
DeleteLooks like a West San Jose NIMBY-wannabe showed up early. Save your breath for the public design hearing, son.
DeleteIt's too exciting for San Jose. The people who don't realize the city is the 10th largest in the US will shoot it down because of traffic and other excuses. It's people like this that make the city the way it is... boring. This is a great project and it has money already in place - we're talking over $100 million dollars money. No subsidies from the city needed to build this. Watch how the boobs in city hall blow this.
ReplyDeleteSounds exciting but how many times has something been proposed and its local residents end up shutting down a project to a 2 story mixed used. This would be a great place to build this and perhaps even higher! The sky is the limit! we can't built any higher in downtown why not to the sides? We need an iconic high rise in the Silicon Valley if San Jose doesn't do it another small city will. Lets get it done San Jose.
ReplyDeleteI see all of the proposals, and something of this caliber has never been proposed outside of Downtown (and there have been maybe two or three Downtown proposals as iconic as this, Museum Place being one of them). There really is no precedent here. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but I think the NIMBYs will have an uphill battle. The council now realizes high-rise housing is the only type of housing that is profitable to the city's bottom line and Pierluigi Oliverio (District 6 Councilmember) is 100% supportive of the project.
DeleteWhat an exciting project - I certainly hope it happens! I think any downtown or business district (Santa Row/Valley Fair included) should have at least one taller, landmark building that announces "you've arrived!" to visitors. Downtown San Jose has these, of course (unfortunately capped in height by the airport) and even downtown Palo Alto and downtown Mountain View have their 10-12 story buildings - which were built in the 1970s and ironically wouldn't see the light of day if they were proposed now. Sunnyvale missed a huge opportunity to add a landmark building when they approved their "town center" redevelopment. This building would create that landmark for Santana Row/Valley Fair.
ReplyDeleteCOME TO CITY HALL - JUNE 13th, 6PM @ 200 EAST SANTA CLARA , 2nd FL, Council Chambers!
ReplyDeletePlanning Commission approved this 9-0 and final step is City Council meeting. The more people we can get to speak the greater likelihood we can get it built!