C.R.E.A.M. in Downtown San Jose

C.R.E.A.M.--which stands for Cookies Rule Everything Around Me--was started in Berkeley and specializes in Ice Cream Sandwiches featuring two cookies and a generous scoop of ice cream. The chain has since expanded to nine different locations, including a Downtown San Jose location that opened earlier this year at the corner of Post and First Street.

One notable attribute that separates C.R.E.A.M. from some of the other fast casual eateries Downtown is that there always seems to be a line out the door. It doesn't matter if it's lunch time, around dinner, or late at night... there are always people waiting to get their ice cream sandwich fix. Speaking of late nights, C.R.E.A.M. is open until 2am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! Even on Monday through Wednesday they are open until midnight. It's nice having a late-night dessert option in Downtown San Jose to compliment the two dozen other eateries ranging from Mexican to Vietnamese to Indian that are open until 2-3am (the awesome Nick the Greek on Santa Clara has joined this club as well).

Okay, so for such a popular place how are the ice cream sandwiches? Personally, I liked them but did not love them. The cookie snickerdoodle cookies were great, but I prefer Treatbot's ice cream a lot more. The place was clean and the service was friendly; I'll almost definitely be visiting them again at some point. However, for me Treatbot is still the ice cream king Downtown.

P.S. Hat tip to William Burch for suggesting I review this place months ago. I finally got around to trying it =).

Eating San Jose: Check out The Table for Brunch

Eating San Jose has a great review of The Table's brunch menu, one of my favorite restaurants in Willow Glen. I have yet to go there for brunch, but based on the review it seems worthy of a special trip just for that purpose. The lemon ricotta pancakes and biscuit & gravy topped with fried chicken and an egg look delicious. Check out Dale's full review at Eating San Jose over here!

Boston Properties Moving Forward on Huge Office Project

There are so many projects in the queue for North San Jose that it is difficult to keep track of them all. You have the mysterious Peery-Arrillaga project that would encompass one huge Fortune 100 tech tenant and up to 2 million SQFT. Then you have n1 Campus with up to 2.8 million SQFT. Over on Zanker Road you have Innovation Place with 540,000 SQFT. Now there is talk of another huge office project moving forward in the area.

Boston Properties owns a 24.5-acre business park on North First Street with five buildings totaling 190,000 SQFT that were all built in 1981. They want to tear down all of these buildings and create up to 1.55 million SQFT of new office space along with some retail. Most buildings would be 5-6 stories tall with one up to 10 stories (perhaps taking a note from Samsung).

It is still not clear if Boston Properties is going to wait for some anchor tenants to build or start the project speculatively, but they are applying for entitlements which could be approved by the city as soon as the end of the year. One thing is certain, North First could look dramatically different in a few years than it does today.

Source: SVBJ

Tech + Tastings at Santana Row

A unique "tech-walk" event is coming to Santana Row in a couple weeks that combines wine and food tastings with various tech exhibits courtesy of The Tech Museum of Innovation (you have to check out the 3D printers). Tickets are only $40 and benefit the museum. All of the info is below:

Tech + Tastings at Santana Row
Presented by The Tech Museum of Innovation

6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, September 4

San Jose, CA – Join us for the first-ever tech walk, an only-in-Silicon Valley event that brings together two of San Jose’s favorite attractions, Santana Row and The Tech Museum of Innovation.
The evening’s highlight is a wine stroll around Santana Row with shop stops that will feature exhibits from The Tech. The event is a benefit for the museum. Tickets are $40 and are available at santanarow.com. Ticket holders will be given:

• Access to hands-on tech exhibits
• Wine & food pairings
• Exclusive discounts to Santana Row shops and restaurants
• Signature Santana Row wine glass

Registration is in Santana Row Park, and will begin at 5:50 p.m.

Here’s what you’ll see from The Tech:

• “Your Life in Data” lets you experience the latest in wearable data gathering. Brainwaves, muscle tension, pulse, light levels, colors, faces, speech and voice levels will all be logged and displayed back to you.
• “Minimasher,” a multiplayer electronic instrument that allows you to jam out on three sets of drum pads triggering drum, bass, and synth sounds.
• “3D Printing -The Future of Making” demonstrates the wonder of 3D with various printed objects on hand. You can try freehand plastic creation with the 3Doodler.
• “Hacker vs. Hacker” challenges you to break into a safe and win a prize. Find the best way in: do you pick the lock, crack the code, or jump the right wires?
• “Scribble Scratch” is a modified consumer DJ controller that puts you in charge of the DJ rig, the iconic Hip Hop instrument. 

About Santana Row
Santana Row, a 647,000 square foot mixed-use development in San Jose, CA, is Silicon Valley’s premier destination for shopping, dining, living and working. Santana Row features over 70 shops, 20 restaurants, a boutique hotel and movie theatre. In addition to the dynamic retail & restaurant collection, Santana Row offers 615 luxury rental homes, 219 privately owned condos and 65,000 square feet of Class A office space. Santana Row is a property of www.federalrealty.com (NYSE:FRT), headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.santanarow.com.


About Federal Realty
Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in
the ownership, management, development, and redevelopment of high quality retail assets. Federal Realty's portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) contains approximately 20 million square feet located primarily in strategically selected metropolitan markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and California. In addition, the Trust has an ownership interest in approximately 1.0 million square feet of retail space through a joint venture in which the Trust has a 30% interest. Our operating portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) was 95.3% leased to national, regional, and local retailers as of June 30, 2014, with no single tenant accounting for more than approximately 3.2% of annualized base rent. Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 47 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty is an S&P MidCap 400 company and its shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT.


About The Tech Museum of Innovation
The Tech is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum—located in the Capital of Silicon Valley —is a non-profit, experiential learning resource established to engage people in exploring and experiencing applied technologies affecting their lives. Through programs such as The Tech Challenge presented by Cisco, our annual team-design competition for youth, and internationally renowned program to honor technology benefiting humanity, The Tech Awards presented by Applied Materials, The Tech endeavors to inspire the innovator in everyone.

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.

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