Thursday, May 29, 2014

New DMV Coming to East San Jose

Tired of long lines at South Bay DMVs? Hopefully this will help. A new 30,000 SQFT DMV is coming to East San Jose. This will be located at 2222 Senter Road, right across the street from Costco.

Barry Swenson is building out the project and expects it to be completed in late 2014.

Source: SVBJ


Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Tee Nee Thai Restaurant Re-openeing in June

A beloved Thai restaurant on The Alameda that way destroyed by a fire over a year ago is about to reopen. Immediately after the fire, the Shasta Hanchett Park Neighborhood came together and held a fundraiser at its sister restaurant, House of Siam Downtown, and helped raise money for the re-build.

The new restaurant will have the same address at 1423 The Alameda, but will be substantially redesigned. The original restaurant had a seating capacity of around 40. The new restaurant will be able to seat up to 86 across a main dining room, a brand new sidewalk cafe, and a Thai-themed outdoor patio. The kitchen is being extended out by nine feet, it is getting two new ADA compliant restrooms, and the front windows will be enlarged to allow for more window seating.

I don't have an opening date yet, but it should be sometime in June with the back-patio being completed in July.

Source: The Merc, hat tip to Alex Shoor for sending this in!


Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Video Tour of the One South Market Construction Site!

Check out the great video that David Manzo put together for his San Jose 2030 project. He is video-documenting key changes in San Jose's landscape between now and the year 2030. You can really see how fast One South is coming along. The views are going to be amazing from this centrally located high-rise tower!

Towards the end of the video you can also see how Centerra is progressing--and I have to say it looks much larger than I would have expected from the sky.


May 2014 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:
  • A 195-unit, seven floor apartment project called Marshal Squares is being planned for First and St. John, right behind the Trinity Cathedral in St. James Park. The coolest feature of this project has to be a two-story cafe overlooking St. James Park.
  • Barry Swenson is gearing up to start construction of Parkview Towers in 2015, also in the St. James Park area and featuring two high-rise buildings.
  • The 4.1-acre, $6 million Rotary PlayGarden for children of all abilities is now under development off Coleman Avenue, behind the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens visitor center.
  • A new marketing program to kindly ask bicyclists to use bikeways and streets downtown is going into effect, preserving Downtown sidewalks for pedestrians to safely walk.
  • CipherCloud has moved its corporate headquarters from 10 Almaden to a larger 20,000 SQFT space at Riverpark Tower 1.
  • Law firm Miller, Morton, Caillat & Nevis moved to a 15,000 SQFT office at 50 West San Fernando.
  • Three new businesses are now open at 52 S. First St., Third Floor:
    • A yoga studio called "Be The Change"
    • Soul Imagez tattoo parlor
    • Make Me Holey piercing shop
  • Take One Pizza is open at 177 W. Santa Clara St., serving individual build-your-own pizzas in about three minutes.
  • The San Jose Earthquakes and Downtown Association plan to have a series of World Cup viewing parties, two of which will be followed up by Starlight Cinemas outdoor movies [Josh: I have separate posts for this closer to the events].
  • The 22nd year of the Downtown San Jose Farmers' Market started on May 2nd and goes all the way until November 21st. This takes place each Friday from 10am to 2pm along San Pedro Square.
To read the full newsletter, click here!


Monday, May 26, 2014

One South Photoshop

Our friend Jeff Arko sent in some Photoshops last weekend to give us an idea of how large One South will be when it is topped out. Yes, there is a setback on one side, but this still give a great approximation of the size of the building in context with other Downtown buildings. This is going to have a huge impact on the skyline as well as the obvious impact to Santa Clara Street and Downtown in general.

TODAY - a shot of One South Market with the 17th floor pour in progress

TOPPED OUT - a fake render all the way up to the top (minus the set back)

CURTAIN WALL - a fake render extending the curtain wall up to the top

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Breathe Deep Bay Area 5k Walk/Fun Run on June 1st

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 run is an opportunity for our community to rally together against lung cancer. They started in 2011 and their next run is one week from today--Sunday, June 1st--at the Discovery Meadow Park behind the Children's Discovery Museum. It's a great cause and they have already raised over half of their $30k goal!

Who: Anyone in the Bay Area!
What: Breathe Deep Bay Area, 5K walk and fun run
Where: Discovery Meadow Park in Guadalupe River Park & Gardens, San Jose (180 Woz Way)
When: Sunday, June 1st, 9:00am for the run, 10:00am for the walk
Why: To raise money for lung cancer research and to raise awareness for this disease!

For more information: www.lungevity.org/bayarea




Saturday, May 24, 2014

Camera 12 is Dramatically REDUCING Prices for the Summer!

This is a big announcement for Downtown San Jose residents and visitors. While most theaters are continuing to increase prices at an alarming rate, Camera Cinemas is slashing them at my favorite movie theater, Camera 12. The price for all movies including brand new blockbusters will be $5.50 during the day and $8.50 at night, all summer long.

To top it off, they will also introduce D-BOX premium seats that can sway and jolt along with the movie. The motion seats will debut in the largest auditorium on May 29th with Disney's Maleficent. These seats are already available at Camera 7 in the Pruneyard and you will be able to preview them in the Camera 12 lobby with trailers of new movies.

I think this will have a big impact in bringing even more people to Downtown San Jose. Camera 12 is the only theater that is steps away from a Light Rail Station, it's the only 3-story theater in Silicon Valley, and it's the only theater playing mainstream movies Downtown. The price cut makes it a no-brainer to patronize and support! Press release below.


CAMERA CINEMAS INTRODUCES BUCKBUSTER SAVINGS IN DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – May 18th, 2014

If you don’t go to the movies very often due to the expense, then you have an unlikely ally in Camera 12 Cinemas. The Silicon Valley theater chain’s co-founder and president Jack Nyblom is willing to stare down the elephant in the room: ever-increasing admission prices. Looking at the blockbuster summer ahead, Nyblom had thoughts about making it affordable to patrons who like to go to the movies once a week or more.

"At Camera 12, we looked at how it can be a challenge for a lot of folks to see all of the exciting first-run films coming up.” Nyblom says. “Why should a family or a struggling student or a couple on date have to pay a small fortune to go to the movies? In thanks for all of the support we’ve received from our loyal patrons, we thought this summer we wanted to give them something back.”

It’s called the Summer Buckbuster and it starts on May 23rd with the superhero epic X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and the Adam Sandler comedy BLENDED. While other theater chains are charging as much as $13 per ticket, movies at Camera 12 will cost $5.50 during the day and $8.50 in the evening.

Another upgrade at Camera 12 this summer is D-BOX, premium-priced seats that move with the action on screen—the audience sways with a dangerous helicopter maneuver or feels a jolt when a character on screen takes a punch. The D-BOX kiosk is already in the Camera 12 lobby so patrons can try out the motion seats with trailers for GODZILLA and TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION. The motion seats will debut in the largest auditorium at Camera 12 on May 29th with the release of Disney’s MALEFICENT.

Best known for bringing sophisticated international films to the South Bay since 1975, Camera Cinemas now operates three locations in San Jose and Campbell, providing a hub for the most prominent film festivals in the Silicon Valley area as well as the latest major studio releases, all exhibited on state-of-the-art Sony 4K digital projectors.

Camera 12 Cinemas, located at 201 S. 2nd Street in downtown San Jose, provides parking validation for three hours.

Saturday Stats: San Jose Metro Unemployment Rate Drops

Silicon Valley's unemployment rate dropped again last month to a stellar 5.4% (5.3% if you eliminate San Benito County, not sure why it is included in these figures). This is down from 6.3% in March. This confirms what many of us already know, the local job market is on fire--in a good way.

How does that 5.4% compare? California's average unemployment rate is 7.3% and the nation's unemployment rate is 5.9%. This means we are outperforming both the state and country in terms of the jobs market.

Source: SVBJ