O'Flaherty's "54 Launch Tap Party"

I never used to think of O'Flaherty's as the go-to destination for craft beer, but they have truly become an anchor for the Downtown beer scene. This Tuesday at 8pm, they are celebrating their new taps--all 54 of them--by selling all their draft beers for $1! Let me say that one more time... they are selling all 54 of their beers for $1 each! If that wasn't good enough, they are sweetening the deal with free hor'dourves.

This event is a no-brainer if you even remotely enjoy beer. Don't miss out on this very rare opportunity, it may never come again! For more information check out their website over here.

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranked as #1 Most Innovative City

Newsweek has named the San Jose area as the #1 most innovative metro based on number of patents created. Another interesting stat is that 63% of all the patents in the US are submitted by people living in the top 20 metros. Those people only make up 34% of the US's population.

Thanks Dan for the link!

Source: Newsweek

MOST PATENT-INTENSIVE METRO AREAS

San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA
Avg. Patents*: 9,237
Patent Intensity**: 10.29

Burlington–South Burlington, VT
Avg. Patents: 826
Patent Intensity: 6.86

Rochester, MN
Avg. Patents: 606
Patent Intensity: 5.70

Corvallis, OR
Avg. Patents: 194
Patent Intensity: 4.83

Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, N.Y.
Avg. Patents: 1,226
Patent Intensity: 4.70

Boulder, CO
Avg. Patents: 666
Patent Intensity: 4.04

San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont, CA
Avg. Patents: 7,003
Patent Intensity: 3.59

Santa Cruz–Watsonville, CA
Avg. Patents: 310
Patent Intensity: 3.20

Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos, TX
Avg. Patents: 2,497
Patent Intensity: 3.09

Ann Arbor, MI
Avg. Patents: 590
Patent Intensity: 2.93

*Averaged over 2007 to 2011.
**Patents per thousand workers, annual average between 2007 and 2011.

55 Market Facelift Looking Good

If you have driven by Market Street lately, you may have noticed the shiny new facade of 55 Market (aka, the gold building). I think it looks pretty sleek, but with so much empty space in the lobby I wish they added a new retail sport or two. Regardless, this is a huge improvement over what was there before and will compliment One South nicely.

Source: Team San Jose

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Hope you all have a fun and safe Fourth! Don't forget to check out the 2013 Rose, White & Blue Parade today on the Alameda.

Buena Vista Midtown Senior Apartments

Construction is now well underway for the Buena Vista apartment project in midtown. I don't believe that I have mentioned this project before. Buena Vista will have 95 units available for those that are 55-years-old and and meet income qualifications. The community will have several amenities and activity programs to serve residents, and the locations is right between Downtown and Santana Row. The project should be ready by next summer and you can see the full construction schedule below.

Thanks Mark for sending this in!

Hours of Construction

The City of San Jose has issued permit approvals for this development requiring that construction activity and deliveries occur Monday - Friday,  7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additional notification and City approvals may be provided, for specific activities to be conducted outside of these hours such as on Saturdays.

Project Schedule & Sequencing

Construction will begin Thursday, May 9, 2013 and complete in approximately September of 2014.

Dates are approximate. For more detailed notifications and updates, sign up for Email Updates.
1.  May 9-17, 2013: Demolition
2.  May-June 2013: Mass Excavation (The process of digging the subterranean garage), with approximately 1-2 weeks of compaction, subject to change.
3.  Summer 2013: Concrete Pumps and Pouring
4.  Fall 2013: 1st Phase of Underground Utilities- Equipment in the streets and compaction
5.  September 2013 - January 2014: Framing the Building, cranes and manpower, delivery of prefabricated framing
6.  December 2013-June 2014: Finishes - Building in full swing with various trades (plumbers, electricians, drywallers, etc.)
7.  Summer 2014: 2nd Phase of Underground Utilities
8.  Summer 2014: Final touches, paving, landscaping, cleaning 

Truck Routes (Deliveries & Hauling)

All large equipment and trucks will be directed to enter from the southeast corner of the site and exit by continuing west on West San Carlos Street; they will be directed through signage not to turn north on either Buena Vista or Willard Avenues. The northern-most lane of W San Carlos Street will be closed during construction and pedestrian detours will be posted.

Closing the traffic lane adjacent to the site maximizes the "buffer" of distance between construction activity and the residences to the northwest, north, and northeast.

A roadway easement has been issued during construction allowing Fiesta Lane, adjacent to the Senior Apartment Site, to be used during construction for staging or equipment, as long as access is afforded to Townhome residents and visitors at all times.

Parking

Core Builders will instruct subcontractors arriving on site to park throughout public streets in a 2 block radius around the site in order to avoid parking inundation to any single area. The subterranean garage will be available to accommodate some construction parking when it is completed by late 2013.

Construction Informational Meeting

This meeting was held on May 2, 2013 at 6:00 p.m., and 17 attendees signed the sign-in sheet at the meeting. Download the
Agenda/Handout from the May 2 meeting below.

construction_meeting_handout_5-2-13.pdf

Download File

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Contact Information

The Site Superintendent is Joel Hannagan of Core Builders. If you have questions or concerns regarding the construction of Buena Vista Midtown Senior Apartments on West San Carlos Street, please contact Joel at 408-373-0444 orjhannagan@thecorecompanies.com.

Main Point of Contact for Neighbors
Joel Hannagan, Site Superintendent: jhannagan@thecorecompanies.com, Cell: 408-373-0444 
Pieter Joosen – Project Manager, pjoosen@thecorecompanies.com Office Ph: (408) 293-9728 x36
Crystal Madeiros – Project Administrator, cmadeiros@thecorecompanies.com, Office Ph: (408) 293-9728 x17
Jim Feeley – Vice President of Construction, jfeeley@thecorecompanies.com, Office Phone: (408) 293-9728 x38

Mailing Address: Core General Contractor Inc.
dba CORE Builders
470 South Market Street
San Jose, CA  95113-2819

San Jose Is Getting a New Museum

This adobe home--which was built in the 1830s and is one of only two remaining adobe buildings in San Jose--is about to become a museum. The historic Roberto-Sunol Adobe & Laura Ville site located in Willow Glen is being donated by the Bruzzone family to the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County. They easily could have sold it, but instead they spent $50,000 renovating the site to help its transition to becoming a museum that will be shared with all of San Jose. The only other similar structure that exists is the Peralta Adobe in Downtown San Jose. For more information check out the source link below (it's a really interesting read).

Source: The Merc

Bass Pro Shops is Building a GARGANTUAN Store in South San Jose

Bass Pro Shops is an outdoor retailer known for building huge destination stores. How huge? The San Jose store will be 145,000 SQFT, which is larger than your typical Costco. This store has an incredibly loyal and devoted following that drive an average of more than 50 miles to get to their closest store and stay an average of 2.5 hours per visit. Each store gets about 2 million visitors per year. This will be the first Bass Pro Shops in the Bay Area, and there are only two other stores in all of California.

The San Jose store will carry all sorts of camping, hunting, fishing, boating, and general outdoor gear. If none of that sounds appealing to you, I'm sure just walking around will be entertaining in and of itself. In fact, this store will come complete with a 12-lane "underwater" bowling alley and a seafood restaurant.

Bass Pro Shops will be located in Almaden Ranch at the corner of Almaden Expressway and Highway 85 and construction should be complete in 2015. Over 250-300 permanent jobs will be created when the store opens, not including seasonal employees.

Source: The Merc, SVBJ

Beavers Find the Way Back to San Jose

Well, I can honestly say that I had no idea beavers ever existed in the Bay Area. For the first time in 150 years, beavers have apparently returned to the Guadalupe River and made a home for themselves within the Downtown San Jose area. Even the beavers see the value in moving Downtown! Check out the video below and the source link for all the info.

Thanks Dan for the tip!

Source: Bay Nature