San Jose History Program #1 Video - San Jose Once Erected the World's Largest Mailbox?

Here is a neat, one-minute history lesson on San Jose from our friends at WMS:


San Jose History Pgm #01 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Quick Samsung Campus Pic

Downtown isn't the only place in San Jose where multiple cranes are going up. Below is a pic that Jaime Pelayo sent in last week of the Samsung Headquarters in North San Jose. It looks like the flagship campus is now growing above ground. Looking forward to seeing this project at full height!

Saturday Stats: Santa Clara County Leading Bay Area Commercial Boom

There are a lot of cranes in the air and buzz about the office market in San Francisco, but the reality is that Santa Clara County is leading the Bay Area in commercial real estate construction with $2.1 billion worth of activity. While this beats San Francisco by 10%, keep in mind it is much cheaper to build offices in the South Bay than up North, so the variance by square footage is likely much greater. Also the $1.3 billion 49ers stadium is not factored into this figure. We'll also see how things go in 2014 and 2015 when developers start hitting the hard cap the city of San Francisco has set on new office construction.

In total, the entire Bay Area will top the $6 billion new commercial construction record set way back in the year 2000. It seems things are recovering nicely in our local economy.

2013 Commercial Construction Activity

Santa Clara County: $2.1 billion
San Francisco County: $1.9 billion
San Mateo County: $765 million
Alameda + Contra Costa Counties: $681 million

Source: SocketSite

Samsung's New US Headquarters in San Jose

Jimmy Fallon @ Henry's Hi-Life BBQ

A couple days ago we had a celebrity visitor at Henry's Hi-Life. Checkout Jimmy's Facebook page for to read people's comments. Thanks Gary for sending this in.

Illuminating Downtown San Jose

Several people have been asking what happened to the Illuminating Downtown San Jose project, which was supposed to bring four high-visibility projects to the area. One of these involves putting LED lighting and artwork underneath well trafficked overpasses that bisect Downtown (where Highway 87 crosses Santa Clara Street and San Fernando Street). Based on the December edition of SJ Economy News by the San Jose Office of Economic Development, it appears the initiative is alive and kicking!

In fact, more information has been revealed on future projects. The 2rd project will revamp the interactive light exhibit at The 88 with new light programs. The 3rd involves enhancing lighting at Axis to create a Downtown "beacon." Lastly, the 4th project is a public wayfinding program that will create an illuminated navigation system for pedestrians using embedded sensor networks (what?? color me curious on this one). Looking forward to see how these turn out, and if you haven't check out the new techie art sculpture outside the remodeled San Jose Convention Center, but sure to have a look next time you are in the area.

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/ ILLUMINATING DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE

#sjplace

Through a $600,000 grant and numerous partnerships, San Jose Public Art Program has launched the Illuminating Downtown Project (IDP). IDP is a series of interactive lighting projects designed to enliven the downtown cityscape. Four projects are underway with the first illuminating the underside of Highway 87 at West Santa Clara and West San Fernando Streets.  The second project invites the community to contribute new light programs for a visual "jukebox" of Show Your Stripes, which is an interactive podium of light at The 88 at South 2^nd.and East San Fernando. A third project is at the Axis on Santa Clara at Almaden where an enhanced lighting project will be placed on the  building to create a beacon to the downtown. The final project is a public wayfinding program that serves as an illuminated pedestrian-oriented navigation system incorporating data-mining, mobile computing, connectivity, lighting, and interaction using embedded and sensor networks. To learn more about the City's IDP projects, click here.  

565,000 SQFT Santana Row Expansion

Sometime next year Federal Realty is hoping to break ground on a massive 535,000 SQFT office space expansion that will bring over 1,000 jobs to the area. This will include two huge office buildings--one seven stories and the other eight stories--and a building beside the CineArts movie theater that would include 30,000 SQFT of retail space and an open public courtyard.  If you are tired of fighting for parking at Santana Row, the additional 2,500 parking spots including in this project will be a big help.

If all goes according to plan, Federal Realty could have approval by the middle of 2014 and break ground right away, even if they do not have a confirmed tenant for the office space. The current office space at the Row is 100% leased and if the build this new space speculatively it will likely not stay empty for very long.

Source: SVBJ

Classic Loot Launches the First Mobile Fashion Accessory Boutique in the South Bay

First food trucks took the South Bay by storm, now it looks like retail is going mobile with both pop-up shops and boutiques on wheels. Classic Loot is a San Jose-based business that premiered about a year ago at a San Jose Made Event. Now they have their own truck and it looks pretty slick. To hunt down the mobile store, either follow them on twitter or check out their website over here.

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SAN JOSE, CA, – Classic Loot has gone mobile, announcing their 15 foot storefront on wheels. It's the first vintage fashion boutique truck to ever hit the streets of the South Bay area.

Classic Loot started back in December 2012 at their first San Jose Made event, vending on table set-ups and has been selling all around the bay area, Treasure Island Flea, Oakland First Friday and more.

"Do you have a store?" One of the frequent questions owner, Tam Tran is asked every time she is out vending. With influences from Los Angeles, New York, and close to home San Francisco, Classic Loot has joined the growing army of mobile retail nationwide.

ABOUT CLASSIC LOOT

Classic Loot is a San Jose based vintage, handmade jewelry and accessories online and mobile boutique business.  We go from all around the bay area and hunt, repurpose and curate the best collection of one-of-a-kind pieces. 

San Jose Launching It's Second Green Bikeway Tomorrow!

Tomorrow San Jose is officially launching a new green, buffered bikeway on San Fernando that will stretch from San Jose State all the way to Diridon! Tomorrow at 8am the public is invited to the official launch of the bikeway at Diridon (and people are encouraged to wear green). After a brief ceremony, there will be a 1.2 mile community bike ride ride to City Hall.

The San Fernando bikeway will connect the buffered bike lanes on 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th streets as well as the Guadalupe River trail. I can see the Bay Area Bike Sharing programming getting a lot more use now.

The first green bike lane project was along Hedding Street. Expect many more of these projects in the future as San Jose pushes towards the goal of having 500 miles of bicycle lanes in its network.

For more information on the bikeway and tomorrow's ceremony, have a look at the release below.

Click to Enlarge

San José to launch its second green, buffered bikeway this week

Ribbon cutting for San Fernando Corridor's enhanced bikeway followed by “Show Us Your Green” community bike ride

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The City of San José has transformed a car-oriented San Fernando Street with only basic sidewalks and bike lanes into a vibrant, people-oriented street with buffered green bike lanes, improved pedestrian walkways, crossings, streetlights and street trees. This San Fernando Streetscape Improvement project will serve as the primary pedestrian, bicycle and transit connector between the city’s regional transit center, San José Diridon Station, and major downtown destinations including office and residential towers, retail, and San José State University.

This Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013 at 8:00 a.m., the public is invited to dress in green and join representatives from the City of San José and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group for the official launch of the city's second green bikeway. The event will take place at San José Diridon Station near the intersection of San Fernando and Cahill Streets. Immediately after the brief ribbon cutting, a 1.2 mile “Show Us Your Green” community bike ride will get underway on the San Fernando green bikeway. The ride will end at San José City Hall, 200 East Santa Clara St., at approximately 8.45 a.m.

“I am pleased that we have been able to stretch our limited transportation funds to provide the community safer and more livable streets,” said Hans Larsen, San José’s Director of Transportation. “San Fernando’s basic bike lanes have seen a 112% increase over the last seven years, with 1189 bicyclists a day counted last year at the San Fernando & Fourth Street intersection. This project provides an enhanced biking experience while also improving the pedestrian environment.”

San José’s first two green bike lane projects – Hedding Street and now San Fernando Street – both serve as primary bikeways, providing east-west access across the city and connections to the Guadalupe River Trail. On-street primary bikeways, like this one, provide cross-town connections to off-street trails using enhancements such as green color, painted buffers between cars and bikes, and physical barriers separating cars and bikes.

“The enhanced bike lanes along San Fernando connect regional commuting options with employment centers, including downtown San José, North San José via the Guadalupe River Trail, and those up the Peninsula via transit at Diridon Station,” said Jessica Zenk, Senior Director for Transportation with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

San Fernando Street’s new enhanced, green bikeway is a key link in the 500-mile citywide bicycle network that San José is building. Within this larger network is a 140-mile system of primary bikeways that function as the bicycle equivalent of the City’s arterial roadway system.

"We're thrilled to see San Fernando Street get the highly visible, comfortable bike infrastructure it needs,” said Corinne Winter, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. “This San Fernando bikeway provides direct connections to the fabulous buffered bike lanes on 3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th Streets as well as the Guadalupe River Trail."

This bike project is part of a larger San Fernando Streetscape Enhancement project funded by a $1.4 million Transportation for Livable Communities grant. The project includes pavement resurfacing and enhancements to street lights, street trees, crosswalks, sidewalks and curb ramps.

About the City of San José and Active Transportation

With nearly one million residents, San José is the largest city on the West Coast, north of Los Angeles. For information about the City’s multimodal transportation goals and policies, see the Envision San José 2040 General Plan at http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?nid=1737. For information on San José Bike Plan 2020, visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=268. To view the City’s Green Vision, go tohttp://www.sanjoseca.gov/Index.aspx?NID=1417.

About Silicon Valley Leadership Group

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1978 by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, represents more than 390 of Silicon Valley's most respected employers on issues, programs and campaigns that affect the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley, including energy, transportation, education, housing, health care, tax policies, economic vitality and the environment. Leadership Group members collectively provide nearly one of every three private sector jobs in Silicon Valley with more than $3 trillion in annual revenue. Visit svlg.org or call (408) 501-7864.

About the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) exists to promote increased cycling in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. To accomplish this goal, SVBC advocates for improved and expanded bicycle infrastructure and other facilities, including bikeways, bike parking, capacity on transit, and more. Additionally, SVBC promotes bicycle culture through events and activities such as Bike to Work Day, Bicycle Friendly Workplace, and Valet Bike Parking at a variety of area events. For more information on Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, visit http://bikesiliconvalley.org/.