Virginia Terrace Apartment Project

A brand new 238-unit apartment projects is going to be built in the area bound by East Virginia Street, Martha Street, South 5th Street, and South 6th Street. All of those units are going on a site that is less than 4 acres, so it is even more dense than it looks from the photos below. The project is just outside the Downtown core, but is close enough so that most of the residents will be utilizing Downtown's amenities. This looks like a great project for the area!

Source: Mark (from Think Bigger San Jose and Content Magazine)

"From Earth to the Spirits" by Alejandra Cano at Mezcal Restaurant

from Phantom Galleries by PG

The Consulate General of Mexico is proud to present:

From the Earth to the Spirits

a photography exhibit by Alejandra Cano

In this photographic series, Alejandra Cano tells us the the mystic path of Mezcal, from being a precious gift to the tavern, where it alleviates the troubled spirits

Through this wonderful collection of images that distill and life, the artist will take us on a journey from the to the cup; from the Palenque, its stills and its mules, that kisses and caresses, that absolves, comforts and resurrects damned.

Exhibition: April 24-July 7, 2013

Mezcal Restaurant

25 W San Fernando St,

San José, CA 95113

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 9th Best City for Nerds in America

San Jose has just been proclaimed the 9th nerdiest city by Movoto, a real estate site. How did they calculate this? Here are the metrics that were used:

• Number of annual comic book, video game, anime, and sci-fi / fantasy conventions
• People per comic book store
• People per video game store
• People per traditional gaming store
• People per computer store
• People per bookstore
• People per LARPing group
• People per science museum
• Distance to the nearest Renaissance faire

Based on the data, here are the 10 Best Cities for Nerds:

1.) Atlanta, GA
2.) Portland, OR
3.) Seattle, WA
4.) Sacramento, CA
5.) Minneapolis, MN
6.) Boston, MA
7.) Las Vegas, NV
8.) Miami, FL
9.) San Jose, CA
10.) Denver, CO

San Jose also ranked #1 for number of computer stores per capita. We have a computer store for every 1,991 people. Also, I have to say that I think San Jose should have ranked way, way higher in the list. I think the SVBJ would also agree, but I am going to focus on the metrics above.

1.) Distance to the nearest Renaissance Faire:  I am guessing they used the Faire in the Gilroy area; however, there is a brand new Downtown San Jose Renaissance Faire along the Guadalupe River 0 miles from the center of San Jose.
2.) People per computer stores: okay we ranked #1 here, but I think we would have gotten some bonus points if square footage was taken into consideration. Fry's should count as 50 electronics stores in other cities =)
3.) People per video game store: same as #2. We have the flagship Gamestop on Stevens Creek that hosts video game competitions and is the size of three or four stores.
4.) People per bookstores: who buys physical books anymore? Most people in Silicon Valley have kindles or tablets to read on, likely at a much higher rate than other cities. Digital sales should be taken into consideration.
5.) Jobs for nerds should also be a metric. Look at how many tech/engineering jobs there are for nerds in the area. I'm sure San Jose would kill the rankings here (and looking at available jobs makes sense for a real estate site).

Hope we do better in the rankings next year!

Source: Movoto (thanks Nick for the tip)

New San Jose Maserati Dealership + Mercedes Expansion

A sign of the times perhaps? The economy is heating up in Silicon Valley and that money has to go somewhere. San Jose is about to get a new car dealership on Stevens Creek... none other than Maserati. The 4,000 SQFT building will host cars that have a starting price of $120,000. Currently the closest Maserati dealership is in Redwood City (photo below) and there is another one north of SF in Mill Valley. The San Jose showroom should be ready by the end of the year.

That isn't the only car news in the area. Smythe is going to expand it's 10,000 SQFT Mercedes showroom with a new steel-and-glass building clocking in at 20,200 SQFT. This project should be done by the end of March 2014.

I know I have mentioned it before, but I might as well remind you guys about the new Tesla showroom at Santana Row. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to go check it out. It's about three times larger than the old one and is the the space previously occupied by Burberry. This is easily the coolest car dealership I have ever been to, and we can take some pride in the fact that their cars are the only mass-produced vehicles being built right here in Silicon Valley.

Source: SVBJ

Wing Box: Hella Good Chicken Wings

Hella good chicken wings.

That's what it says on the sign for the San Jose restaurant, Wing Box. And, so far I have to agree! The Wing Box is a small chicken joint with a simple menu consisting of five asian-inspired sauce covered wings (and drumsticks). 

Located on Lundy Avenue in a small shopping center filled with various other asian restaurants (sushi, thai, etc - quite an assortment, among some other stores as well) the Wing Box is a stylish little spot.

 

The decor is industrial, sleek, and simple. A giant chalkboard shows you the limited menu.

Your options are:

(Four wings with the rice and pickled carrots and daikon.)

• Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings
• Singaporean Street Wings
• Caramelized Tamarind Wings
• Thai Basil Chili Wings
• Red Sticky Wings

Your sides:

• Garlic Noodles
• Shoestring Fries
• Sweet Potato Fries

The drinks are even a little different as well:
House specialty sparkling lemonades - freshly squeezed / exotic fruits.

• Meyer Lemon
• Guava
• Lychee
• Candied Kumquat)

They also have Southeast Asian Sweet Teas

• Ginger-Mint, Lemongrass, Mango, Peach, or Pomegranate
  
• Thai Iced Tea
  
• Coca Cola (in a bottle)

and, the novelty item that caught my attention as much as it has some of the Yelpers out there - the Box Water.

Yes, they have a tall box of water (looks like a mini milk carton) for $2.50 

(However you can still get normal ice water for free.)

So - how'd this place make its way onto my radar? Well my husband and I work near the Wing Box (he's closer than I am by a few minutes) and he's been there a few times with coworkers. One day, the two of us were going to have lunch together and he suggested the Wing Box. Ok, I'm down. I've got mad chicken cravings so I wanted to give it a go. 

Alright so like I said, it's a little spot. Very little. There are two tables for four people, and a window seat bar with two seats. That's it. Thankfully the two times I've been there at lunch on a weekday, we were able to get seats. But if you get there and it's busy, have another idea of where you will eat your lunch. Don't skip out just because you can't find somewhere to sit! (Ok, this might be the food truck adventurer in me speaking, I'm pretty used to eating where I stand…)

My husband has had several of the flavors (if not all) and after a quick look at photos of the wings (that have more detailed ingredient listings) I chose the Singaporean Street Wings. 

Oh yeah - here's the thing. During the week, they have a special. For $5.80 you can get a large wing and drumstick, a scoop of rice, a small container of pickled carrots and daikon as well as a small scoop of their garlic noodles (you can sub fries if you like.) Perfect price! 

For me, this was plenty of food. If you are a lumberjack, skip that and go with the Wing Box Sampler: Two wings of each of the five flavors, four scoops of rice, and two trays of the pickled carrots and daikon. If you are with a small group, this would be a nice choice to try several of the flavors. 

I LOVED the chicken. It wasn't crazy soaked with the sauce (which was freakin' tasty) and that let the chicken stay crunchy. The inside was super juicy! The size of the wing and drumstick are larger than average as well. 

They have a few dipping sauces you can include as well. I like to have a small cup of the Sriracha sauce to mix with my white rice. Yum!

The second time I went, I chickened out (hah, see what I did there?) and ended up with the same flavor again. I didn't want to risk possibly not liking another flavor! I was craving the kind I had last time, so I had to go with that.

This just means I need to return a few more times to try the other flavors!

Oh and a small thing, that probably is just a detail for myself but -- the sparkling lemonades are mixed when you order. So I was able to try the Meyer Lemon lemonade without the carbonation (can't have it). It wasn't overly sweet which is a winner in my book. I think I'll try the Lychee version next time.

While I think it's great to have places outside of the downtown area - I really do think a place like this would fit perfectly either in the SoFA District or even better, at San Pedro Square Market.  

Have you been to the Wing Box yet? What did you think of the place?

http://wing-box.co/

1715 Lundy Ave #162

San Jose, CA 95131

San Jose's UCP is Going to IPO

Union Community Partners (UCP) is a San Jose-based homebuilder and developer who has just filed for a $125M IPO. They sell real estate lots for development to larger homebuilders or they build those lots out themselves using their Benchmark Communities brand. They currently control almost 5,000 residential lots in the South Bay, Central Valley, Monterey, and Puget Sound area. Not only is the IPO great news for San Jose, but it also shows how the housing market has rebounded since the bubble burst in 2008.

Source: SVBJ

Video Tour of MUJI!

Check out the great little video below of MUJI's grand opening last week in Downtown San Jose (thanks to our friends at WMS Media for sending this over). You have to check out this store! I hope we will see many more like it in the future. Please be sure to also read Jen's write-up of opening day over here.


Muji San Jose Store Grand Opening 4-16-2013 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Breathe Deep Bay Area 5K Run/Walk

Another run/walk supporting a great cause is coming to Downtown San Jose this Sunday. The run begins in Discovery Meadow Park and all of the details are below!



Who: Anyone in the Bay Area!
What: Breathe Deep Bay Area, a 5K timed race and untimed family walk
Where: Discovery Meadow Park in Guadalupe River Park & Gardens, San Jose
When: Sunday, April 28th
Why: To raise money for lung cancer research and to raise awareness for this disease!

www.lungevity.org/bayarea

Event Details

Breathe Deep Bay Area is a 5K timed run and untimed walk to raise money for critical lung cancer research. The untimed walk course is friendly to strollers, wheelchairs, bicycles, and pets (as long as they are cleaned up after). Only wheelchairs are allowed on the timed race course. There will be a kids corner as well as refreshments for all participants. Awards will be given to the top 3 individual fundraisers; top 3 fundraising teams; first, second, and third male runners; first, second, and third female runners. Be sure to bring a photo or write a message on the Honor Wall, in honor or in memory of a loved one.

During event registration, you can warm up with special guest Cori Maiden, a local yoga instructor from San Francisco. At our opening ceremony, you can also join with other event participants in a moment of reflection lead by Cori.

Our Story

Breathe Deep Bay Area is a grassroots event planned and managed by a small group of volunteers from the Bay Area whose lives have been impacted by lung cancer. This 5K walk and timed run is an opportunity for our community to rally together against lung cancer. Together, our community has the power to raise the funds that might lead to new early detection technology or discover the best new targeted therapy and save hundreds of thousands of lives. After starting small in 2011, Breathe Deep Bay Area looks forward to tremendous growth in 2013 and we hope you’ll choose to be a part of it.

Promote your team!

Need a helpful tool to promote your team and gather donations? Download and print this flyer on your home computer, write in your team name, and pass to friends, family, and coworkers. You get two flyers per page so don't forget to cut it in half.

First San Jose Aloft Hotel Coming in 2014!

One of my favorite hotel brands is finally coming to San Jose. Aloft is part of the Starwood chain, which also includes Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis, Four Points, Le Meridien, and Element. Aloft hotels are designed by the same people responsible for the chic and modern W Hotels brand, except these rooms are a bit smaller and much more affordable. Where Aloft really excels above other brands is technology. Each room is guaranteed to have a large LCD screen with HDMI inputs, USB ports, lots of outlets, etc. Even the reception area of these hotels are tech friendly and seem more like a break room at Google than a hotel lobby. Aloft has also started a new pilot program where frequent guests get a permanent key and receive a text message with their room number 24 hours before arrival so that they do not need to check in.

The San Jose Aloft is going to go next to the America Center, which houses the corporate headquarters for Polycom and Flextronics. This also happens to be a stones-throw away from the new 49ers stadium, Santa Clara's future entertainment district, and massive new office developments currently under construction. The hotel clocks in at 175 rooms and five stories, and also shows that you can build a budget-friendly low rise hotel that does not look like crap (hope Hampton Inn is paying attention). Also, those colorful horizontal bars are filled with LEDs that light up at night and look really slick.

It's also great to see how Starwood Hotels have been expanding in San Jose. Just five years go there were ZERO Starwood hotels in San Jose proper. Even the "San Jose Sheraton" is in Milpitas. The Hotel Montgomery in Downtown San Jose was converted to the nicest Four Points Hotel in the world and became our first Starwood. Then a new Four Points opened in South San Jose off of Bernal and 101 late last year. The Westin San Jose is opening Downtown in November of this year. And now we get an Aloft for 2014. I hope the trend continues, I'm a big fan of the Starwood chain.

Source: SVBJ

49ers Draft Bash Event @ San Pedro Square Market

Well, well... have a look at where the 49ers are having their 2013 Draft Bash. The move to the South Bay is already providing some benefit to San Jose, and I'm sure we will see more of this in the future.

The San Francisco 49ers will host a Draft Bash presented by Bud Light from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, at San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose. The free-ticketed event is open to all ages and will be held as an outdoor block party on St. John Street with a celebration throughout the San Pedro Square Market.

The Draft Bash will include food, music and entertainment, interactive sponsor booths, the latest 49ers merchandise, and the live broadcast of the 2013 NFL Draft which begins promptly at 5 p.m. to be displayed on large outdoor screens. Performances by the Gold Rush Cheerleaders, Niner Noise, and guest appearances by Sourdough Sam, 49ers players and alumni are expected.

Fans will be kept in the know with draft-day commentary from 49ers all-time great, Dwight Clark, and the voice of the team, Ted Robinson.

Attendees must register online to obtain tickets. Printed tickets must be presented at the gate in order to attend. Please follow all the latest 49ers news at www.49ers.com, on Twitter @49ers, and on Facebook.

Draft Bash Location: San Pedro Square Market and St. John Street between Almaden Avenue and San Pedro Street, San Jose, CA 95110.

Click here for directions to San Pedro Market from your destination.

PARKING: There are many public parking lots surrounding the San Pedro Square Market. Please consult www.sjdowntownparking.com for an interactive map and directions.