Block 2

If you liked yesterday's unique Market Street Towers renders, Sobrato has another flagship project right around the corner that we'll call "Block 2" until an official name is released. It is located on East San Fernando St. between S 1st St. and S 2nd St.

The project looks like several stacked glass Tetris pieces with multiple sky gardens between them. This would be one of the most interesting and unique buildings Downtown if it gets built.

The schematic shows new ground floor retail, which like Market Street Towers would fill a critical gap or deadzone Downtown. Currently the only thing on this piece of land is a surface parking lot.

Above the retail and lobby would be four floors of parking and 12 floors of offices. Each floor appears to have two sky gardens, which are four-story cutouts from the main building shell. Impressive!

Source: Market Street Towers

Market Street Towers

Sobrato has just release some new renders for their Market Street Towers project. The building design is iconic. I can't say that I have seen anything like this anywhere else. While it looks like four separate towers, it is actually a single 584,658 SQFT office building with floor plates as large as 51,605 SQFT.

The ground floor will have 16,372 SQFT of new retail, which fills a dead zone between the Paseo between the Fairmont buildings and San Carlos Street. Currently this is just a surface parking lot. Speaking of parking, there will be 683 parking spaces and 152 bicycle stalls, something that will also come in handy on the weekends when the offices are closed.

My favorite part of the project is the roof, which features not one but two sky gardens with over 25,000 SQFT of combined space. The views should be incredible as you can see from the 2nd and 3rd images below.

To see more photos and 360 degree views, head over to the Market Street Towers marketing site. Tomorrow we'll post renders for another Sobrato project in the area.

Doga comes to St. James Park in July and August

SILICON VALLEY PET PROJECT PARTNERS WITH CITY OF SAN JOSE TO OFFER
“DOGA” – YOGA CLASSES FOR DOGS AND THEIR OWNERS

Doga Comes to St. James Park in July and August

SAN JOSE, CA — Pack up your yoga mat — and your dog — and join Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP) for “Doga” in the Park.  For the fourth year in a row, SVPP is partnering with the City of San Jose to provide fun and interactive Doga (dog-plus-yoga) classes twice a month on Sundays, at San Jose’s historic St. James Park.  A certified yoga instructor leads the one-hour class designed for bonding between people and pups of all ages and levels.  The Doga classes are made possible, in part, by a grant from San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services.

Doga sessions will take place in the area near the corner of 3rd and St. John (near the dog park and playground) from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., with instruction from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Remaining dates this summer are: July 28, August 11 and August 25.

Registration is free but space is limited.  For more information and registration, please click here or go to http://www.svpetproject.org.

“It’s a fun and healthy way to bond with your dog,” said Melissa Lisbon, Silicon Valley Pet Project president. “We can enjoy the benefits of being in a beautiful park while enjoying the benefits of yoga.  We are thrilled to be partnering with the City of San Jose on this project again.”

# # #

 Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP) is a nonprofit animal welfare organization committed to saving local at-risk shelter pets through rescue, community involvement, and education.  For more information, go to www.svpetproject.org.

Doga in St. James Park...Provided by Silicon Valley Pet Project and a grant from San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services.

Live version of "San Jose" by Grace Kelly

Below is a live version of the new song entitled "San Jose" by Grace Kelly. This was a casual recording at the Clos LaChance Winery and I'm sure it won't be the last time you'll see a live version of this performed in Silicon Valley. For more details on the son and to see the official music video, head over here.

Dine Downtown San Jose 2019

The latest "Dine Downtown" restaurant week runs until July 28th and features prix fixe tasting menus, chef's specials, and food & drink pairings at Downtown San Jose's hottest restaurants. Some of my favorite new restaurants like Elyse, Enoteca Las Storia, SuperGood Kitchen and District are on the list as well as classics like 71 Saint Peter, Cafe Stritch, Scott's Seafood, The Grill on the Alley, Mezcal, and Nemea.

To see the full list of 22 participating restaurants and their featured menus, head over here. OpenTable also set up a handy page to easily book Dine Downtown San Jose Restaurants here.

July 2019 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The latest addition of Downtown Dimension is now live. Below is a summary of the content this month: The JULY 2019 Downtown Dimension is now available at: https://sjdowntown.com/wp_2016/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DTDJuly2019.pdf In this edition: Jay Paul Co. calls San Jose the "next great frontier of Silicon Valley," and backed that statement up by buying three more properties. Planning the future Diridon Station has taken some big steps, with many more still to go. Here's the update. New parking systems are starting to be installed in city-owned Park SJ garages.  The systems integrate new parking technology and are meant to create a "frictionless" parking experience. Dimension has the schedule and info for businesses about new validation options.   July is a big month for SJDA events, with Music in the Park, Dine Downtown, Starlight Cinemas and the Farmers' Market all in rotation. Get ready to eat and drink a little more and be extra merry this month! Keep up with all that's happening downtown: Live and Local SJ supports live music in the center city. Traffic alerts keep up with lane and road closures and openings. Maps of downtown commercial property availability and development proposals. Boom City: SJDA's summary of new downtown building proposals and west side acquisitions, continues to be updated almost monthly... Downtown Dimension is a leading source for information about downtown San Jose news, events and businesses.  Subscribe with a simple email to sjda@sjdowntown.com, subject line:  Subscribe. Copyright © 2019 San Jose Downtown Association, All rights reserved.

San Jose Development Updates

The SJ Economy Blog will start sharing a detailed update on development projects on a regular basis. The current stats are impressive.

• There are 16.22 million SQFT of office in development
• There are 7,261 residential units in planning, 5,215 units have been entitles, and 3,476 units are currently under construction (1,533 units are under construction Downtown).
• There are multiple hotels in the pipeline including a Hyatt House, Hampton Inn, Resident Inn, 24-story Tribute Hotel, and several others.

For more details head over to the source links below.

Source: SJ Economy Blog, Full development report

Miro's twin high-rise under construction across from City Hall

20-story office tower proposed for 200 Park Ave.

Developer Jay Paul Co. has picked up 200 Park Avenue, which is across from CityView Plaza in Downtown San Jose. The company is proposing a massive 850,000 SQFT building that looks pretty unique. Not much else is known about the project, which still has to go through extensive approvals.

It is wild to think that 10 years ago we couldn't get a normal office tower built, and now we are hearing about one mega-project after the other. Google may not have to build any of their own towers at this rate.

Source: SVBJ

VTA calling for innovative transit ideas to connect SJC

The VTA as well as the cities of San Jose, Santa Clara, and Cupertino are looking for ideas on how to quickly move people between SJC and various parts of Silicon Valley. They want these ideas by September 30th.

Specifically, this consortium is looking for grade-separated mass transit at a significantly lower cost than traditional projects in two segments. The first is integrating SJC and Diridon such that they are viewed as a single facility--which would be amazing! I remember being completely shocked when visiting Hong Kong and realizing there was a special Airport train line where you can check your suitcases at the train station, hop on the train, and walk straight to security. Something that well integrated might not be part of the plan, but there are many airports in the US with people movers between terminals. How cool would it be if Diridon felt like it was just a quick terminal transfer away from the airport?

The second route would link the airport to three urban villages along Steven's Creek (I'm sure Santana Row is one of them), Santa Clara, Cupertino, and DeAnza College. This is a high-traffic route and extending BART or Light Rail down this way would cost billions of dollars.

It sounds like this RFI (request for ideas) is a way to legally satisfy the common government requirement of getting multiple bidders for each project. There is literally only one company right now that might be able to pull off something like this at a low cost, and it is The Boring Company. They are already designing an underground loop for the new Las Vegas Convention Center Expansion at a cost of about $10 million a mile. For less than the cost of the two-stop Eastridge light rail extension, we could connect SJC, Downtown San Jose, Santana Row, Santa Clara, and Cupertino with a fast and direct point-to-point transit system.

This could be the beginning of a whole new era in transportation that blends public and personal transportation together. San Jose should be leading the charge, innovation is our middle name!

Source: SVBJ

Taylor Street Night Market

Every Thursday night during the summer, the Taylor Street Night Market will take place at the Gordon Biersch Brewery in Japantown from 5-9pm. The event includes food trucks, a beer garden, music, and shopping. For more info, head over to the event Facebook page over here.

StarCity's "co-living" tower moves forward

StarCity is working on the largest co-living project in the United States and it just received final city approvals. Co-living is like a dorm for adults. You get a small private space which typically includes a bedroom and bathroom and other facilities like the kitchen, living area, and laundry are shared between multiple residents. Generally co-living facilities are much less expensive than a typical newer apartment.

StarCity would like to build an 18-story tower with 803 co-living units at 199 Bassett Street. The location is is just three blocks away from San Pedro Square.

I would assume this will be on the higher-end of the co-living spectrum. The building will have a 5,000 SQFT gym, chef-style kitchens, bike storage, co-working areas. As an added bonus, there will be retail on the ground-floor that might include a cafe, grocery store, or bar.

If this gets built, it will immediately increase the Downtown population by a significant number and hopefully provide a more affordable living option.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose Rotary Fireworks 2019

Tonight, join the Rotary Club of San Jose at Discovery Meadow for a free fireworks show. While it can be seen from most of Downtown San Jose, the best viewing spots will be close to the Children's Discovery Museum. The family-friendly event kicks off around 5pm with entertainment and the fireworks begin at 10pm. For more info and a list of sponsors head over here.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day everyone!

San Fernando Bike Lanes

Downtown San Jose has become of of the most bike-friendly urban centers in the United States and is getting better year after year. Check out the video below showcasing nearly two miles of continuously protected lanes down San Fernando Street.

Source: Sharkcity from the San Jose Development Forum

2018 Year in Review by Scott Knies

This post is long overdue. Below is the San Jose Downtown Association's recap of 2018 hosted by Scott Knies. It provides a great look at all of our highlights and lowlights last year along with nearly every major development project that is in the hopper today. Even though I'm 6 months late with this one, the content is still 100% relevant.

 

Adobe breaks ground on San Jose's largest office high-rise

Last week, Adobe broke ground on it's remarkable 4th tower in Downtown San Jose. At 1.3 million SQFT it is about as large as the existing three towers combined and will house over 4,000 employees. There will also be a new bridge over San Fernando connecting Tower 4 to the original campus

Adobe is already Downtown San Jose's largest employer, so this is a major vote of confidence for the area. If all goes well, the tower will be complete by 2022.

If this is what 4,000 employees looks like, imagine what 20,000 new Googlers will do for San Jose's core.

Source: SVBJ