100+ affordable homes proposed for 1207 North Capital Avenue

A new project between Alum Rock and Berryessa would add 129 affordable homes in a five-story building right across the street from VTA Light Rail. The proposal has 13,000 SQFT of communal spaces including lounges, fitness facilities, and outdoor spaces.

The location is an easy walk to three different retail centers that have multiple restaurants, a clothing store, and a Safeway. BART is also just three Light Rail stops away.

Today this site is just an empty lot at 1207 North Capital Avenue so very little demolition and prep work would be necessary. Unfortunately, there is no timeline for groundbreaking and construction.

Source: The Mercury News

Mid-Autumn Festival today at San Jose's Berryessa Branch Library

The mid-autumn festival is a wonderful opportunity to learn about and appreciate the diversity of Asian cultures in San Jose. Decorate paper lanterns, munch on delicious treats, and enjoy performances by lion dancers and storytellers.

The festival celebration takes place today, September 30ths, at the Berryessa Branch Library from 10am-1pm. The library is located at 3355 Noble Avenue in San Jose.

Affordable housing in Berryessa, San Jose

The VTA is planning to use an empty lot next to the Berryessa Transit Center (BART & bus terminal) to build 195 affordable apartments. Housing will only be available to those making 60% or less than the county's median income. For a family of four that would mean they would need to earn less than $100k a year. 46 of the apartments will be used to provide support for residents who have experienced homelessness.

The render looks pretty nice for affordable housing. Each resident will have access to bikes and scooters as well as get a free BART and VTA pass to encourage more use of public transit. Part of the first floor will be a child care facility, another surprising amenity for a project like this.

Measure A funds will be used to pay for the project as well three other projects specifically designated as affordable housing. VTA plans to build a total of 2,600 affordable homes over the next 20 years.

This specific project is expected to break ground in 2026 with completion slated for 2028.

Source: San Jose Spotlight

New Vietnamese Supermarket in Berryessa

Many Downtown locals were saddened when the Dai Thanh grocery store was closed in order to make way for new development. Fortunately, the popular Vietnamese grocer is coming back with a vengeance. Not only did they open a much larger store at 2040 Tully last June, but they have just taken over a former Lucky's space in Berryessa. While the Downtown store was only 10,000 SQFT, the new Berryessa location is 33,000 SQFT and employs 50 people. 

This is quite a significant expansion for what was once a modest immigrant family-owned business. The purchases were funded by a $17 million sale of the SoFA location, which is destined to become a high-rise residential project in the future.

The new Dai Thanh grocery store opened on January 17--just in time for Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. You can find it at 1641 North Capital Avenue in San Jose.

Source: The Merc

San Jose BART Station - latest updates

San Jose is just one year away from finally being connected to BART. Below is the latest update from the VTA, which is responsible for the extension to Silicon Valley. Both the Milpitas and San Jose stations should be open in late 2017. Watch the short video below for construction photos and details.

San Jose's first BART station is coming along nicely

If you have driven around Berryessa recently, it is nearly impossible to miss the new BART station. The project seem to be moving pretty quickly and will hopefully hit its 2018 completion date. Below are the most recent construction photos I have found.

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Fatburger Opens First Bay Area Restaurant in San Jose

Fatburger is fast casual chain with made-to-order burgers, several different options for fries, and milkshakes. They are known for giant portions with a distinctive sweet relish and great optional toppings like eggs, guacamole, chili, and bacon. They just opened up their very first Bay Area restaurant in Berryessa (788 N. King Road). Unfortunately, I did not make it out there yet, but a few of my friends did and happened to take a few photos. The lines wrapped around the building, but I heard it was worth the wait.

Thanks to Diana and Kevin Zing for sending these in!

Construction Starting on LINQ at Berryessa

The first market-rate apartments near the Berryessa BART station are about to break ground! Called LINQ at Berryessa, the project will have 230-units and is sitting on land that used to be zoned as industrial. Two affordable projects have already been built in the area and another 140-unit market-rate project is going to be built a kitty corner from LINQ.

In addition to being a short walk away from BART, LINQ will also have 12,000 SQFT of retail space which will likely be used for restaurants. For more info, hit the source link below.

Source: SVBJ

Berryessa BART Station Analysis

SPUR has an in depth analysis of San Jose's first BART Station and provides multiple suggestions for maximizing the land use around it. Its a bit lengthy, but is definitely worth a read if you are interested in future development or urban planning. I really like the idea to create a retail park out of shipping containers right next to the station. Check out the article over here.

Thanks to David Speakman for sending this in.

LINQ at Berryessa Station

A new transit-oriented development is set to break ground in Berryessa this August and be ready for occupancy well before BART's arrival in 2017. The developer is Republic Family of Companies and the project is called LINQ at Berryessa Station.

In the plans are 230 residences with a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, skydeck (rooftop patio?), landscaped garden with BBQs and a gazebo. The ground floor will have 12,000 SQFT of retail space, and I'm really hoping they won't all be national chains. Also part of the project is a new one-acre park.

LINQ looks like it will be about five stories tall and will be an easy walk to the BART station. Light rail will be a one station hop away and several freeways are within two miles (101, 680, 880). I wish it was taller, but overall this looks like another interesting project that we have BART to thanks for.

Source: SVBJ

High-end Health Club Replacing Century Berryessa 10

Many Berryessa residents were worried that the former Century 10 Movie Theater was going to be turned into a Walmart. It now looks like that space is going to be a massive 130,000 SQFT VillaSport gym. Actually, calling it a gym may be an insult. The existing VillaSports in Texas and Colorado feature amenities like outdoor water slides, whirlpools, full-service spas, massive amounts of equipment, and kid's areas that are in-and-of themselves larger than many gyms. Residents in the area should be pretty happy about this!

They are ready to build the health club as soon as they receive the final sign-off from the city. I'm not sure what the monthly fees will be for membership, but I think they will be a bit higher than your typical 24 Hour Fitness. Check out some images below that the Business Journal scooped up from a Colorado VillaSport .

Source: SVBJ

San Jose Bacon Festival!

The Garlic Festival in Gilroy is one of the largest food festivals in California and is a huge draw for from all around the Bay Area. What could possibly be better than Garlic? BACON. Lots and lots of bacon! I'm all over this. Hopefully this will one day grow to the same scale as the Garlic Festival. They are off to a good start with food trucks all offering bacon dishes, a bacon cooking competition, a bacon beauty pageant (???), a bacon parade, bacon games, and even a bacon square dance. 

Right now they are looking for vendors (more info below), but I'm sure more info will be revealed closer to the event on Saturday, August 31st.

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San Jose Bacon Festival

 

Saturday, August 31st
11:00 am to 10:00 pm

 

San Jose Flea Market
1411 Mabury Road
San Jose, California 95133

What's more All-American than the SJ Bacon Festival on Labor Day weekend?!

During the day, the festival runs alongside the bustling SJ Flea Market at Berryessa. And at night, the festival runs alongside the popular  The Night Market.

At the festival, there are lots of food trucks--all offering special bacon dishes for $5 or less! There is a Bacon Cooking Competition, a Bacon Beauty Pageant, a Bacon Parade, a Bacon Square Dance, bacon games and more!

  Learn about vending at the Bacon Festival > 

 Vendor Submissions are open until Tuesday, August 13th.

  

If you have a questions regarding this application process, contact Stephanie at sanjosemade.steph@gmail.com.

Berryessa Walmart?

Well, I have some bad news today. It looks like SyWest Development wants to build a Walmart where the Century Berryessa 10 movie theaters used to be. SyWest has recently razed a beloved theater in Pleasant Hill to build several cookie-cutter big box stores, despite protest from thousands of residents. It looks like they want to do something similar in San Jose. While there is little reason to preserve the Berryessa theater, putting another generic Walmart there seems like a poor use of the space, which will only be minutes away from the new San Jose BART station in 2017.

The person to complain to is Bill Vierra, the SyWest president and COO (bill_vierra@sywest.com). More information on the flyer below.

Thanks Andrew for sending this in!

Dome Theater in Pleasant Hill that was Razed by SyWest