Summer in St. James Park

I really have to hand it to the Downtown Association for upping their efforts this summer to activate St. James Park. On top of the world cup viewings, Startlight Cinemas, and Music in the Park, several other regular events are being planned. Every Wednesday in July there will be food trucks from 11am to 1:30pm, pick-up soccer games from 11:30am to 1:30pm, and free drop-in yoga from noon to 1pm.

To see the full list of events just head over to www.sjdowntown.com/summerinstjames.

July 2014 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• VTA's focus for the year include providing better service to the Convention Center, SAP Center, and Levi's Stadium, as well as securing funding for Phase II of the Silicon Valley BART expansion and rolling out Bus Rapid Transit.
• 1,200 smart parking meters have been installed throughout Downtown. They now accept credit and debit cards, but the rate has gone up from $1/hour to $2/hour. The extra revenue (after paying for the meters themselves) will be used for Downtown projects.
• Dozens of homeless are now working side-by-side with Groundwerx staff to learn skills in cleaning and maintenance to help clean Downtown in exchange for food/basic needs vouchers.
• The Mercury News is officially coming back Downtown, with offices at 4 N. Second.
• Spanner design consultants are bringing their studyio to 5,500 SQFT on the second floor above Billy Berks's and Mezcal (15 W. San Fernando).
• Music in the Park is coming back for two shows this year: The English Beat on July 17th at St. James Park and Pete Escovedo on August 21 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
• Based on new regulations approved by the City Council, medical marijuana facilities will be prohibited from remaining Downtown.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

One South and Centerra Close-Ups

Yesterday we had a time lapse of both One South and Centerra. Today we have two close up shots of the construction progress from Shawn Mathew. Both buildings are really coming along nicely. As a reminder, each of these has retail on the ground floor. Centerra has the potential of being an extension of the San Pedro Square Market. One South is a couple blocks away, but should do wonders to help activate Santa Clara Street while also contributing to what is happening in the San Pedro Square area.

Coming up on the horizon, the "sibling" Silvery Towers in the San Pedro Square area right behind the Fallon House and the Post Tower right next to the Gold building. By then we'll also have the new courthouse building, the SJSU student housing tower mentioned yesterday, the Pierce in SoFA, a couple projects around St. James, and who knows how many others. Downtown San Jose is going to look very different 3 years from now.

SJSU Starting Construction on $126M Student Housing Project!

We're going to have another crane in the air before long and this one will be on the SJSU campus. The University has broken ground on a student housing project with 850 beds. The building will be 10 floors, a bit shy of the 15 floor high-rise a stones-throw away.

This project is Phase 2 of the Campus Village project and will cost a cool $126M. Phase 1 was completed in 2005 and added a total of 2,275 beds.

As Nathan Donato-Weinstein mentions in the source link below, this will be a major step in moving SJSU from a commuter school to a more urban university. The building should be done by Summer 2016.

Source: SVBJ

One South and Centerra Time-lapse Photos

Check out the series of photos below taken from City Heights that range from the pre-SPSM days (first photo) to today. If you compare the first and last photos directly, it's amazing what a difference two buildings make.

Huge thanks to David Cheung for sending these in!

Veggielution's Annual Farm Dinner is on Auguest 23rd

Veggielution is an awesome community farm located in the middle of San Jose. Their annual event--Bounty of Heart's Delight--takes place August 23rd. The highlight is a five-course meal featuring local produce and wine, sourced and prepared by chef Affie Mahini from Cafe Pomegranate (great restaurant across from SJSU).

The even also includes live music, a decadent dessert, and even a Barn dance. Have a great time while supporting Veggielution's community programs! Full details of the dinner and ticket sales can be found on the website at www.veggielution.org/bohd (FYI, tickets are 60% tax-deductible).

Saturday Stats: San Jose Named Best City to Work In!

San Jose continues to get recognition for being a great city to work in. An analysis by Glassdoor ranks the San Jose metro as the #1 place in the country for employee satisfaction. Huge tech salaries and career opportunities were the key contributors to the ranking. This is also the second consecutive year where San Jose is placed at the top of the hill in this study.

San Francisco ranked #2, Washington DC was #3, and New York was miles away at #28. Make sure to watch the short video below put together by Glassdoor.

Sources: Glassdoor, SVBJ, Business Insider, Hat tip to Arturo Perez

 

Music in the Park's 26th Season Opens July 17 with the English Beat and Finish Ticket

SAN JOSE – Music in the Park shows this summer start with a July 17 concert featuring the English Beat, plus up-and-coming alternative rock bands Finish Ticket and The Holdup.

This will be Music in the Park's 26th season, and second season of gated admission.  Tickets purchased in advance cost just $10 for adults and free for children 12-under when accompanied by a supervising adult. Day-of-event price will be $20.  Tickets are now on sale at www.sjdowntown.com/musicinthepark.

The San Jose Downtown Association and Live 105.3 co-host the event from 5:30-9 p.m. at St. James Park starring new wave and ska originals The English Beat.  The Birmingham, England-based band has a 35-year history of success, with hits such as "Mirror in the Bathroom," "Save it for Later," "I Confess," "Stand Down Margaret," "Can’t Get Used To Losing You" and "Tears of a Clown."  Frontman Dave Wakeling retains his relevance as music innovator.  His "Crying Out Loud" album was released earlier in 2014.  Visit http://englishbeat.net/.
 
Finish Ticket is fresh off Live 105's BFD and success with their single, "Tranquilize," off their first major-label release, "Tear You Apart."  They will be coming from the East Coast and continuing their national tour right after making a special appearance at Music in the Park.  Visit http://finishticket.com.

Opening the show at 5:30 p.m. is The Holdup, a San Jose band touring clubs in Califiornia this summer.  Their song, "Fool's Gold Pt 1" is available on iTunes.  See https://www.facebook.com/theholdupmusic.

In addition, Music in the Park returns to Plaza de Cesar Chavez for a one of its concerts for the first time in two years.  On Aug. 21, Latin jazz legend Pete Escovedo and his Orchestra make their 19th appearance at Music in the Park, the show starting at 5:30pm. 2013 Grammy Award-winning Latin rock band La Santa Cecilia will open for the 82-year-old Escovedo.

Tickets are also available for $10 for adults and free for children 12-under at www.sjdowntown.com/musicinthepark.