Another Apartment Project Proposed for Midtown

Fairfield Residential is proposing yet another dense project for midtown over at 800 W. San Carlos where the Cheim Lumber Yard used to be. Unfortunately there has not been much movement on previous projects such as the Ohlone (with 800 units). This new proposal is still in the very early stages, but they are shooting for 315 apartment units. You can't make out too much from black and white drawing below, but it does look like the design will be more eye catching than many of the apartment projects that have been recently built. It kind of reminds me of The Pierce which will go up in Downtown's SoFA District.

The plans also include a respectable and appreciated 23,500 SQFT of retail/restaurant/office space on the ground floors oriented along West San Carlos. Lightrail will also be nearby, providing plenty of transit options thanks to a quick connection to Diridon. I really hope to see this come to fruition soon instead of linger like some of the other midtown projects.

Source: SVBJ

Virgin American Leaving SJC

Some bad news today. Virgin America is leaving SJC.  I was really excited when they announced that they were coming to our airport, but was always worried they would be destined for failure from the start. Instead of adding a new route that would be a huge value add to Silicon Valley residents, they chose instead to go with four daily flights to LAX. Guess what, San Jose already had two dozen flights to LA each day.

If they went with a new route instead of a highly competitive one, they would have been much better off. ANA is doing really will with over 80% occupancy on their route to Japan. Hopefully future new carriers will be more like ANA and less like Virgin.

Saturday Stats: #1 Apartment Boom Town

SpareFoot ranked the top apartment boom towns in the US, and San Jose took the pole position on the list with San Francisco coming in 8th. The analysis looked at the total apartments per person, population growth, the percentage of people spending more than 35% of their income on rent (lower numbers are better), per-capita personal income growth, per-capita GDP growth, and growth in per-capita construction permits for new apartments. The article is an interesting read (especially on how Detroit made the list) and you can access it here.

The Way to San Jose
Here is SpareFoot’s ranking of America’s Top 15 Apartment Boom Towns, in descending order.

1. San Jose, CA
2. Austin, TX
3. Houston, TX
4. Grand Rapids, MI
5. Nashville, TN
6. Dayton, OH
7. Portland, OR
8. San Francisco, CA
9. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
10. Oklahoma City, OK
11. Seattle, WA
12. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
13. San Antonio, TX
14. Des Moines, IA
15. Detroit, MI

San Jose’s continued job growth, along with its shortage of affordable entry-level homes, encourages younger workers to look for apartments, said Matthew Mahood, president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.

“The apartment housing market has responded to this increased demand and has built and will continue to build new projects. In fact, there are two high-rise projects being built simultaneously in downtown San Jose that will provide for nearly 700 for-rent units in the next two years,” Mahood said.

Source: The SpareFoot Blog

2014 State of the City Address

Below is a video of Mayor Chuck Reed's final State of the City Address. His speaking points included SJC, connecting BART to Downtown San Jose, the A's, community reforms, green-tech, budget deficits, homelessness, taxes, and public safety.

BLINK Exhibit March 15th

from: Phantom Galleries by PG

San Jose Art Salon Presents BLINK.

Please join us for an art expo of vastly different styles that are sure to please the versatile taste of all art lovers.

Everything changes in the blink of an eye.

Opening event: Saturday March 15, 2014, 7-10pm, free

Art By:

• Shannon Amidon 
• AtreyArt
• Anthony Barbaria 
• Brande Barrett
• Julie Barrett Bilyeu 
• David Canavese 
• Jennifer Pizarro-Cordiglia 
• Lorinda Farfan 
• Gretchen Kisler 
• Mark Martinez 
• Kristen Pollock

Music by: Alex Pansoy

Delicious treats provided by: TEA-Rex catering. https://www.facebook.com/TeaRex.BayArea

Exhibition runs from March 15th through March 29th.

Hosted by: 2905 Gallery, KLOK radio and Lourdes Morante-Mieses 

2905 South King Road, San Jose, CA

New LPA Offices in Downtown San Jose

LPA is an Architecture, Design, and Master Planning firm that has taken over the old Northwester Mutual space at 60 South Market Street. Their portfolio is quite impressive and they are known for modern and sustainable projects. Have a look at some before (black & white) and after photos of their stunning new Downtown San Jose home.

Japantown Art Walk Tomorrow

Come check out a new Art Walk in Japantown featuring Empire Seven Studios, Cukui, and 2Twenty5. The galleries will be open until at least 9:30pm and there are a ton of great places in the area to grab a bite before or after the walk. I hope this becomes a regular event like South FIRST FRIDAYS!

Silvery Towers Approved by City, May Break Ground in 2014!!!

My favorite news always seems to come from Nathan Donato-Weinstein from the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Once in a while something comes along that really makes my day, and this would qualify.

The city council approved Silvery Towers today, a dual tower 643-unit rental project with a whopping 20,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor to compliment the neighboring San Pedro Square Market. The towers will be 228 feet tall and look phenomenal. This would be one of the most modern, Silicon Valleyish designs of any high-rises Downtown. I especially like the LED lighting on the 3rd to last render below. This would also be the largest residential project ever built in Downtown San Jose.

It gets better... the developer (KT Properties) is already meeting with potential partners to get the $250 million to fund the project and is planning to break ground in 2014 with the first units ready to lease in 2016. Ideally both towers would be built simultaneously, although one would start six months before the second.

The SVBJ article dropped a few other interesting nuggets of information. The retail pavilion in front of the towers will have a rooftop terrace and a basement bar (Singlebarrel 2 anyone?). They also might be doing a rooftop cafe (!) on one or both of the towers. Good day indeed.

Source: SVBJ

New Digital Music Exhibit at The Tech - REBOOT:music

The Tech is launching a new temporary exhibit focused around the art of making music in the digital age. This will include 14 installations by renowned artists that will let museum patrons collaborate and explore making music. They are also planning on having two evening concerts that will bring together cutting-edge live music performers from all around the world and various workshops to teach people more about music. The new exhibit is already open and will be available until August 17th of this year. More information in the press release below.

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SAN JOSE, CA –Time to turn up the volume! Bust out your maestro hat and mix it up. REBOOT:music, The Tech’s new interactive exhibition where you can partake in ultramodern digital music creation technology, debuts Friday, March 7, 2014. Unleash your artistic spirit with the help of 14 imaginative musical instruments created by visionary artists that allows you to explore the boundaries of how you experience music.

REBOOT:music provides collaborative, mesmerizing social music experiences with installations like:

• The Laser Harp Alembic: the musical sculpture that surrounds you with an orchestra of infinite sounds, each just a pluck of the air away.
• Red Hot and Sympathetic Resonance: two large-scale electro-acoustic experiences that bring a technological twist to familiar acoustic instruments.
• Stepping Tones: an immersive projection mapped out environment lets you create and visualize beats by hand.
• The Space Palette: the ultramodern musical and graphical instrument where futuristic soundscapes and digital designs are at your fingertips – literally!

To accompany the exhibition, the museum will create spin-off programs: two music performances and workshops featuring artists, musicians, instrument builders, and tech luminaries will be announced shortly.

WHAT:  The Tech’s new exhibition, REBOOT:music, unleashes your inner music-maker with 14 interactive digital music instruments. Free with museum admission.
WHEN:  Limited engagement debuts Friday, March 7, 2014 at 10 a.m. This temporary exhibition will run through Aug. 17, 2014.
WHERE: The Tech, 201 S. Market St., San Jose, CA
 
About The Tech Museum of Innovation
The Tech is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum—located in the Capital of Silicon Valley —is a non-profit, experiential learning resource established to engage people in exploring and experiencing applied technologies affecting their lives. Through programs such as The Tech Challenge presented by Cisco, our annual team-design competition for youth, and internationally renowned programs such as The Tech Awards presented by Applied Materials, The Tech endeavors to inspire the innovator in everyone.

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The Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113
1-408-795-6321
mtran@thetech.org

Visit: thetech.org
Like: facebook.com/TheTechMuseum
Follow: twitter.com/TheTechMuseum

Electric Cloud Moving to Downtown San Jose!

Another hot tech company has decided to move Downtown, and they are taking over a very important building that has been vacant for two years. Electric Cloud is moving 70 employees from Sunnyvale to 18,600 SQFT at 35 South Market Street. This was formerly Xactly's headquarters (they are still Downtown, just needed more space). This is also one of the oldest buildings in the area, being built in 1889. Electric Cloud is going to turn it into a modern open-office floor plan which will be surrounded by historic character.

This spot is quite important since it sits right in the middle of Downtown and will be across the street from the new One South apartment tower. Activating this block is critical to connecting the islands of retail, residential, and office space.

Electric Cloud specializes in software-delivery optimization, essentially reducing time-to-market for companies to get their software in the hands of customers. They will be a very welcome addition to our city's core, and the employees won't be picketed or harassed like in other places around the bay.

Source: SVBJ, hat tip to Michael McAlister