Sprouts Coming to North San Jose

A new Sprouts Farmer Market is going to anchor a new 150,000 SQFT retail center at the southwest corner of East Brokaw and Oakland Road in North San Jose. This will fill up a huge gap in grocery options for this neighborhood, which is a key area for mixed-use development in San Jose. While there are tens of thousands of tech jobs within a few square miles, residential projects have also started to infill the area. The New Home Company is building 239-units right behind the new retail center and KB Home is building out thousands of units at the San Jose Flea Market nearby.

Sprouts will take about 30,000 SQFT of the retail center, but their brand cache is strong enough to get the center renamed from Brokaw Plaza to Sprouts @ Brokaw. No other tenants have officially been announced, but the developer is in lease negotiations with about 30 tenants. Hopefully some will be unique or at least new to San Jose instead of the same old chains.

Sources: SVBJ, SiliconBeat

The Tech Wins a National Award!

A couple weeks ago The Tech landed the highest honor any American museum can achieve--the IMLS National Medal. It is only given to five museums each year and is based on the institution's impact on the lives of individuals, families, and communities. For 2015, The Tech was the only museum in California to get the honor.

For more info, click here.

Today is truly one of the great days in the history of The Tech

I am thrilled to tell you that we have won the National Medal for Museum and Library Service — the highest honor an American museum can achieve. Each year, this award is given to five museums and five libraries nationwide. It is given based on the institution’s record for making a difference in the lives of individuals, families, and communities, and this year we were the only museum selected from California. (A list of the other institutions receiving the honor can be found here.)  

I will travel to Washington, D.C., to accept the medal on May 18. Accompanying me will be Maria Arias Evans, the powerhouse principal of Washington Elementary School in San Jose and a close partner of ours. Why Maria? Because our partnership with Washington Elementary represents a great deal about what we aspire to be and to do — to be a resource for teachers, families and the community in the effort to help young people achieve their potential. Maria’s students visit us regularly for field trips; in fact, a group of fifth-graders is here today learning about electricity in one of our hands-on labs. “The Tech has the STEM expertise that we don’t,” Maria said. “We may not have our own fab labs, science labs, and other STEM resources, but we have The Tech.”

We would not have achieved this honor without the deep and wide support of the Silicon Valley community — donors, our staff, board, volunteers, community and corporate leaders, educators and elected officials — including our beloved congressional representative, Zoe Lofgren, who nominated us for the medal. In particular, we would like to thank the South Bay residents who have never wavered in their commitment to The Tech. We share this honor with you.

Yours,

Tim

Tim RitchiePresident and CEO
The Tech Museum of Innovation 

San Jose Ranks as #1 Place for Tech Jobs in 2015!

In what should come as little surprise, San Jose was ranked as the top metro in the US for tech jobs. NerdWallet took a look at the largest 370 metro areas and analyzed the number of tech jobs for every 1,000 employees in the metro, the annual mean salary, and the median cost-of-living. Despite astronomical housing costs, San Jose took 1st place by a mile.

San Jose had far and away the greatest number of tech jobs per 1,000 employees (126.27) as well as the largest average tech salary in the country ($130k). San Francisco--despite including tech-heavy San Mateo and Redwood City--only managed 6th place. New York came in 67th.

To see the full list, head over to the source link below.

Source: NerdWallet

EPIC @ Evergreen Village Square Today

Come celebrate international culture today at the "EPIC" festival. The event runs from 11am-3pm at the Evergreen Village Square and will include individual and group dance performances by a variety of schools.

First Saturdays by SJMADE at Whole Foods!

SJMADE is launching a pop-up market filled with local artisans and designers at Downtown San Jose's new Whole Foods on The Alameda. The event runs from 11am-7pm every first Saturday of the month (hey that's today!) at the breezeway between the Whole Foods main entrance and the Tap Room.

I love how Whole Foods is allowing these types of events on their premises that add value and engage the local community. Hopefully this one will run year-round.

First Saturdays at Whole Foods, The Alameda
777 The Alameda, San Jose
First Saturdays
11:00am - 7:00pm

South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk Tonight!

Take advantage of the amazing weather tonight and head over to SoFA for a self-guided art walk! 20 venues will be participating, including a new one--Third Space Fitness. Below is a handy map of the event. For more information head over to the South FIRST FRIDAYS website.

Oh, and mark your calendars for June 5th and 6th for the annual SubZERO Festival.

Downtown Farmers’ Market Season Begins Tomorrow

The Downtown Farmer's Market kicks off tomorrow on San Pedro (between St. John and Santa Clara)! The Market will take place every Friday from 10am-2pm until November 20th (except for July 3rd). In addition to seasonal produce, gourmet foods, and arts/crafts, there are also a series of special events such as a cherry pit spitting contest (June 12th), a melon eating contest (July 31st), and a pumpkin giveaway (Oct 30th). Check out the press release below or the Farmer's Market site for more info.

SAN JOSE – The  Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market, presented by Kaiser Permanente, opens for its 23rd season on May 1 along San Pedro Street between Santa Clara and St. John streets.

The market offers more than fresh-picked fruits and vegetables direct from California growers.  Opening day, for example, features live folk music and Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) chef demonstrations and recipe tastes.

The Cookin’ at the Market feature will also take place June 5, Aug. 7, Aug. 14 and Aug. 21. During the season, the Downtown Farmers’ Market will also hold contests such as Cherry Pit-Spitting on June 12, Melon-eating on July 31 and Halloween costumes on Oct. 30.

On the second Friday of each month, San Jose Public Libraries will feature “Crafter-noons”  arts projects at the market.

Besides fresh fruits and veggies, the Downtown Farmers’ Market offers artisan booths for unique gifts, cut flowers, and gourmet foods, such as fresh and smoked fish, olives, breads and Kettle Korn.

Each week, the market may include up to 40 vendors.  On average, 2,500 residents, office workers and visitors head to the Farmers’ Market and San Pedro Square for lunch, activities, people-watching and shopping.  Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable and washed bags. Market partner Kaiser Permanente has teamed with the Downtown Association and PCFMA for six years to focus attendees on healthful and “green” living.  Kaiser Permanente will schedule its Blender Bike for Smoothies on occasion, allowing shoppers to hop on the stationary bike and whip up a smoothie made from fresh Farmers’ Market fruit.

Parking validations for Farmers’ Market shoppers are available for the Market-San Pedro Garage at the SJDA information table.  Visit sjdowntownparking.com.

Follow the Downtown Farmers’ Market on Twitter (@SJ_Downtown) and Facebook (sjdowntown and DowntownFarmers’Market).  Check sjdowntown.com/events/sjda-events/farmers-market-presented-by-kaiser-permanente/. Call (408) 279-1775 for information.


About the San Jose Downtown Association:  The San Jose Downtown Association is a non-profit group of business and property owners working to improve the vitality and livability of downtown San Jose.  Established in 1986, SJDA programs more than 100 days of events each year.

Massive Condo High-Rise in Milpitas Moving Forward

Downtown San Jose is not the only area slated to get high-rise residential over the next few years. In 2016, BDK Capital is planning to break ground on a $300 million project featureing two 18-story towers with 450 luxury condos and 34,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. The project is located at 600 Barber Lane (former Chevorlet dealership), which is across the street from a large Asian shopping center and future retail projects.

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