Great Downtown Photo

There is a ton of construction right now at SJSU. Check out the shot below showing one of the cranes on campus as well as the Downtown skyline in the background.

Source: Jawz from the San Jose Development Forum, SJSU Twitter Account

Saturday Stats: Rents Are Still Sky-High in San Jose

While there was some talk last year about rents starting to stabilize, the numbers in Zillow's latest studies show otherwise. In fact, there was a painful 13.4% increase in rents year-over-year from January 2014 to January 2015. Here are some other tidbits regarding the San Jose rental market:

• In San Jose, the median rent is $3,179 and rent is expected to increase 11.79 percent annually. 
• San Jose renters pay 39.4 percent of their income on rent each month, assuming the median San Jose income. 
• San Jose permitted just 294 new units for every 1,000 new residents from 2012 to 2013, according to Zillow.
• The Breakeven Horizon shows renters should consider buying in San Jose if they plan to live there for 2.7 or more years. 

For more info, head over to the Zillow article entitled: The Rent is Still Too Damn High -- And Getting Higher

The CineBrew Mart 2015!

Tomorrow is the second annual CineBrew Mart hosted by Camera Cinemas, Hermitage Brewing, and SJMADE. The event is a mixture of local craft beer tasting, unlimited movie watching, and hyperlocal shopping. I attended last year and this was one of my favorite new events for 2014! Some of the beer vendors even had snacks to compliment the beers such as bacon flavored cotton candy. New to the event this year will be a theater dedicated to showing local films from a variety of filmmakers and organization.

The event is a steal at $25 per person ($15 per person for designated drivers and $12 for kids). That includes both unlimited beer tasting from 1-5pm and unlimited movie watching from 11am to 11pm. There are also lots of great snacks and crafts to peruse through in the SJMADE vendor section.

Get your tickets before they are all gone over here!

The CineBrew Mart

Camera 12 Cinemas

201 South Second Street

Downtown San Jose

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Access to Movies: 11a - 11p

Local Beer and Treats: 1p - 5p

Escape from The Werewolf Village

A new "Escape" game is coming to San Jose! If you haven't done one of these yet, they're a blast. Its basically a live game where your team has an hour to figure out how to escape a room by solving a series of puzzles. It's a unique and challenging experience and I'm stoked to another escape game coming to San Jose.

This particular event is only taking place from May 21st-24th at the San Jose Woman's Club (75 S 11th Street, San Jose). I normally would not post this far in advance, but I have a feeling these tickets will sell out. You can find out more about this great event and get tickets over here.

There is also "Escape from the Mysterious Room" on North First Street, which is exceptionally well done. That event is ongoing and you can get tickets here.

San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival Voted Best in Nation!!

A recent USA Today poll has named Cinequest as the best film festival in the country. The competition was steep with the likes of the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest Film Festival in the running as well.

Currently serving over 100,000 movie lovers, Cinequest continues to grow both its attendance and its brand year after year. The team behind the festival has already vowed to make Cinequest 26 in 2016 the best one yet!

Check out the full Top 10 US Film Festival list at USA Today.

Victorian Near SJSU Getting Spruced up with Street Art

The owner of a Victorian home on E. Reed St. has decided to do something unique before putting the home up for sale. Instead of just remodeling it, he wanted to do something that would turn it into a landmark and represent local culture. So, the owner teamed up with renowned graffiti artist Scape Martinez to transform a boring wall next to the house into contemporary street art.

Below is the current status of the project and more info on the artist. To see the project in person, head on over to 377 E. Reed Street in Downtown San Jose.

New Downtown Signs

Several new signs have been added across Downtown San Jose to encourage people to get out of their cars and discover attractions by foot. Some of the areas highlighted are the SAP Center, Little Italy, St. James Park, and of course San Pedro Square.

The signs are part of the Walk (Your City) wayfinding project that was sponsored by the Knight Foundation. The signs are currently on Santa Clara and St. John streets but will soon be expanded to several neighborhoods in San Jose. There should be nearly 50 of these signs up before the project is complete. For more information (and to submit feedback), head over to the Walk [San Jose] website over here.

Source: The Merc

The Summer Fashion Shows at Santana Row

San Jose, CA - For the first time, the Santana Row summer runway moves to poolside at Misora, Santana Row’s resort-style residences.

Taking center stage (after the fashion presentation, of course!) is the luxurious setting, The Row’s newest community. The popular summer style event returns for the seventh year and will feature the season’s best fashions from The Row for women and men as well as style surprises and special guests.

Details: The fashion shows take place on Saturday, June 6 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Tickets are $50 and include poolside seating to view the show, access to the Style Boutique, pre-event champagne and light hors d’oeuvres. Also included: a Passion for Fashion shopping card that entitles guests to discounts around The Row, prize drawings and in-store after parties with DJs. Registration begins at 12:45 p.m. at Santana Row Park for the 1 p.m. show. Tickets are on sale at SantanaRow.com and at the concierge office.

About Misora: The 212-unit luxury residential community, which was completed in early 2014, boasts such amenities as a lounging pool with cabanas and a lap pool, concierge services and private cinema. Residents also enjoy a fitness studio, chef’s demonstration facilities near the pool, wine lockers and a wine tasting room.

   

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 ofwww.federalrealty.com (NYSE:FRT), headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.santanarow.com.

About Federal Realty

Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, D.C. to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Founded in 1962, our mission is to deliver long term, sustainable growth through investing in densely populated, affluent communities where retail demand exceeds supply.  Our expertise includes creating urban, mixed-use neighborhoods like Santana Row in San Jose, California, Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland and Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts. These unique and vibrant environments that combine shopping, dining, living and working provide a destination experience valued by their respective communities.  Federal Realty’s 89 properties include over 2,600 tenants, in approximately 20.2 million square feet of retail space, and 1,500 residential units. 

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 shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT. For additional information about Federal Realty and its properties, visitwww.FederalRealty.com.