Saturday Stats: San Jose is the Most Expensive Metro in the US

You would think that New York or San Francisco would be the most expensive metros in the US, but we win the prize (if this is a prize at all). US home prices have grown an average of 4.4% year over year, but in San Jose they have increased a whopping 11.3% from the first to second quarter alone. The current median sale price stands at $899,500 for a single-family home in our metro.

San Francisco came in as the 2nd most expensive metro, followed by Anaheim/Santana Ana, Honolulu, and San Diego.

Source: SocketSite

Fourth Annual “Stroll The Alameda” Wine & Beer Stroll

This Sunday come sample local wines and craft brews along the Alameda while checking out 17 different businesses participating in the 4th Annual "Stroll the Alameda." In addition to great drinks, you'll have music, painting, and other activities. Tickets are only $25 in advance and include a souvenir glass. As usual, the details are below.

Hat-tip to our friend Alex Shoor for sending this in (and congrats on joining the Shasta / Hanchett Park Neighborhood Association board).

When: Sunday, August 24, 2014 from 2pm to 5pm

What: The Shasta/Hanchett Park Neighborhood Association (S/HPNA) and Alameda Business Association (ABA) will co-host the fourth annual Stroll The Alameda Wine & Beer Stroll. Local businesses along The Alameda are paired with a local winery or local kraft brewery. Participants in the Stroll will receive a souvenir glass and a map for participating business along a condensed stretch of The Alameda in San Jose between Hester and Atlas.

Where: Browse 17 business locations along The Alameda while tasting some of the best beer and wine the local area has to offer. For a complete and updated listing of participating businesses, visit www.strollthealameda.com.

Tickets: The Stroll the Alameda Wine & Beer Stroll tickets are $25 in advance or $35 on the day of the event. Tickets include a souvenir glass and wine and/or beer tastings. Advance tickets are available at www.strollthealameda.com. Day of event tickets can be purchased at the check-in booth in front of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Enjoy many activities for all ages during the event. The lawn at Westminster will serve as the central entertainment hub with a band playing on the steps, live painting, face painting, as well as many other activities. Bring the family, a blanket, and enjoy a lovely day along The Alameda. Additionally, several businesses will feature music at their location. Use #strollthealameda to share your event photos!

For more information: strollthealameda@shpna.org or www.strollthealameda.com

Symphony Ready to Break Ground on Student Housing Project

Symphony Development has finished acquiring the site needed to build Downtown's first apartment community specifically designed for SJSU students off-campus. The project is located right behind the Vintage Tower (across the street from City Hall).

The building will be a total of seven floors, two for parking and the rest for the apartments. There is no retail component, but tons of restaurants are available within three blocks (including Ike's). The total unit count will be 119 split across in 2-4 bedroom configurations, all of which will come fully furnished. While they will rent to anyone, this building is really designed for students. Symphony is planning to rent by the room at a rate of $750 to $1,250 a month, and that will include internet, cable, etc.

Also on tap are study rooms, barbecue pits, a recreation center, and swimming pool. While it may not be as tall as we would like, I think it will be a great infill project that will be an asset to the SJSU community.

Source: SVBJ

August 2014 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• Levi's Stadium is now open for business and will bring tons of world-class events to the region like the Super Bowl, WrestleMania, and international Soccer Matches in addition to the regular 49ers games. Downtown San Jose will be a huge benefactor offering hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment to Levi's Stadium visitors before and after games. Downtown San Jose has 7 Light Rail Station, one Heavy Rail Station, and several shuttle buses that can take people directly to the stadium.
• The Knight Foundation is donating $150,000 to fund Downtown Association projects focused on two initiatives:
• The Public Space Activation Project will distribute five micro-grants to local events producers.
• The Street Life Project will focus on initiating the Downtown Street Life Plan which includes modular stages, street furniture, shade structures, pocket gardens, lighting, and Downtown wayfinding.
• This month TPG Hospitality plans to break ground on a 210-room AC Hotels by Marriott on Santa Clara and Highway 87.
• Park View Towers is moving forward with an 18-story building with 155 units and a 12-floor building with 64 units fronting St. James Park. There would be 15,000 SQFT of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor and the Church of Christ Scientist building would be used for offices.
• The Post and San Pedro Tower is also moving forward with a 21-story, 182-unit mixed-use project with 8,000 SQFT of ground-floor retail.
• SJSU is starting construction on a 10-story, 850-bed student housing project on the corner of Ninth and Paseo de San Carlos.
• Chacho's is doubling their seating inside by expanding into the former Love's Cupcakes spot.
• VCs have invested $30 million each into two Downtown tech companies: Intacct (which is doubling their presence Downtown) and Malewarebytes.
• The SoFA Market is expected to open this month (!) with three tenants: the Falafel Bar, Veros Coffee, and The Fountainhead (architecture-themed bar).
• Pete Escovedo and his Latin Jazz Orchestra are headlining Music in Park on Aug 21st.
• The next HER City event will be Aug 27 at the Tech Shop.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Content Magazine Pick Up Party Today @ Paper Plane!

Content Magazine is having another one of their pick-up parties, and this time it is at one of my favorite new restaurant/bars Downtown--Paper Plane. If you are a subscriber, you get one free drink (and the drinks here are fantastic). Non-subscribers can stop by and purchase the latest copy for only $5 (half-price). Either way, this is well worth checking out!

Pick Up Party--Tuesday,
August 19th 6:00-8:00pm

Come celebrate our new issue, 6.3 "Stage," with the Content Magazine community at one of San Jose's newest spots, Paper Plane.

72 S. First Street
San Jose, CA 95113

Subscribers, Contributors and People Featured will get one free drink and a copy of the latest issue. Non-subscribers can purchase the latest copy for $5 (50% off) at the Pick Up Party.  

Stop on by. Meet new people. Learn new reasons to love your city.
RSVP (or email us)

San Pedro Square Market Planning Expansion!

Since launching in October 2011, the San Pedro Square Market has become a pivotal success that is changing perceptions of Downtown San Jose and serving as a catalyst for development. It is one of the biggest wins Downtown has ever had. Now, the SPSM is planning their first major expansion and has already acquired a 13,045 SQFT parcel across the street for this purpose.

Today, this lot consists of a small house being used as an office for History San Jose and a surface parking lot. Eventually this will likely become a two-story building with retail on the ground floor residential or office on the top floor. The retail piece could easily be 40% of the square footage the Market has today and either support multiple vendors or larger, more traditional restaurants and shops. The icing on the cake is that they will incorporate some sort of public space next to the Fallen House, much like they did with the Peralta Adobe in the middle of the Market.

My personal wishlist item for the expansion would be an underground Speakeasy bar similar to Singlebarrel. How cool would that be?

Other retail will be coming as well. Centerra will have 8,000 SQFT on the ground floor of its tower right across the street from the Market and KT Properties is going to build two high-rise towers with the same amount of retail as exists today at the Market. This means within 4-5 years we may have triple the amount of restaurants and shops we have today in the San Pedro Square Market area. I can't wait to see how this shapes up!

Source: SVBJ

East San Jose Soccer Team Ranks 3rd in the Country

A soccer team backed by the Portuguese Athletic Club called "Los Tigres" has brought back a bronze medal in the US Youth Soccer National Championship Finals. Out of over 10,000 teams around the country, they came in third. Check out the full article over here.

Source: I Heart San Jose, The Merc

Saturday Stats: San Jose is One of "America's Coolest Cities"

Forbes recently compiled a list of America's Coolest Cities. They started with the 60 largest Metros in the US and then ranked them on six factors (equal weight):

• Arts, culture, and entertainment amenities
• Recreational amenities
• Diversity
• Foodie culture
• Population aged 20-34
• Population growth

San Jose ranked #16 on their list, tied with Los Angeles (I'll take it). SF ranked #5 and New York hit #11. Washington DC took the #1 spot. To see the full list click here.

Sources: Cardinal2007 from Skyscrapercity, Forbes