South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk Tonight!

Take advantage of the amazing weather tonight and head over to SoFA for a self-guided art walk! 20 venues will be participating, including a new one--Third Space Fitness. Below is a handy map of the event. For more information head over to the South FIRST FRIDAYS website.

Oh, and mark your calendars for June 5th and 6th for the annual SubZERO Festival.

Downtown Farmers’ Market Season Begins Tomorrow

The Downtown Farmer's Market kicks off tomorrow on San Pedro (between St. John and Santa Clara)! The Market will take place every Friday from 10am-2pm until November 20th (except for July 3rd). In addition to seasonal produce, gourmet foods, and arts/crafts, there are also a series of special events such as a cherry pit spitting contest (June 12th), a melon eating contest (July 31st), and a pumpkin giveaway (Oct 30th). Check out the press release below or the Farmer's Market site for more info.

SAN JOSE – The  Downtown San Jose Farmers’ Market, presented by Kaiser Permanente, opens for its 23rd season on May 1 along San Pedro Street between Santa Clara and St. John streets.

The market offers more than fresh-picked fruits and vegetables direct from California growers.  Opening day, for example, features live folk music and Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) chef demonstrations and recipe tastes.

The Cookin’ at the Market feature will also take place June 5, Aug. 7, Aug. 14 and Aug. 21. During the season, the Downtown Farmers’ Market will also hold contests such as Cherry Pit-Spitting on June 12, Melon-eating on July 31 and Halloween costumes on Oct. 30.

On the second Friday of each month, San Jose Public Libraries will feature “Crafter-noons”  arts projects at the market.

Besides fresh fruits and veggies, the Downtown Farmers’ Market offers artisan booths for unique gifts, cut flowers, and gourmet foods, such as fresh and smoked fish, olives, breads and Kettle Korn.

Each week, the market may include up to 40 vendors.  On average, 2,500 residents, office workers and visitors head to the Farmers’ Market and San Pedro Square for lunch, activities, people-watching and shopping.  Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable and washed bags. Market partner Kaiser Permanente has teamed with the Downtown Association and PCFMA for six years to focus attendees on healthful and “green” living.  Kaiser Permanente will schedule its Blender Bike for Smoothies on occasion, allowing shoppers to hop on the stationary bike and whip up a smoothie made from fresh Farmers’ Market fruit.

Parking validations for Farmers’ Market shoppers are available for the Market-San Pedro Garage at the SJDA information table.  Visit sjdowntownparking.com.

Follow the Downtown Farmers’ Market on Twitter (@SJ_Downtown) and Facebook (sjdowntown and DowntownFarmers’Market).  Check sjdowntown.com/events/sjda-events/farmers-market-presented-by-kaiser-permanente/. Call (408) 279-1775 for information.


About the San Jose Downtown Association:  The San Jose Downtown Association is a non-profit group of business and property owners working to improve the vitality and livability of downtown San Jose.  Established in 1986, SJDA programs more than 100 days of events each year.

Massive Condo High-Rise in Milpitas Moving Forward

Downtown San Jose is not the only area slated to get high-rise residential over the next few years. In 2016, BDK Capital is planning to break ground on a $300 million project featureing two 18-story towers with 450 luxury condos and 34,000 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. The project is located at 600 Barber Lane (former Chevorlet dealership), which is across the street from a large Asian shopping center and future retail projects.

The buildings will have a large number of luxury features such as rooftop decks, lounges, a fitness center, two pools, and community rooms. The project even has eight penthouse four-bedroom units. The developer is going for the feel of a "New York lifestyle" in Silicon Valley.

I think this project is good news for the whole South Bay. The more residential high-rises that go up, the more accustomed Silicon Valley residents will be to this type of offering. There are many places throughout San Jose that could use large mixed-use projects like this... not just Downtown San Jose. Hopefully this helps pave the way to more developer interest.

Source: The Registry

SJSU Animation/Illustration Showcase

This Friday, SJSU's Animation/Illustration graduating class will be launching their senior gallery at The Citadel (199 Martha Street). The opening reception will run from 6:30pm to 11pm, but the artwork will be up through May 23rd. Hours for the gallery are on the banner below.

"Mystery tenant" Still Alive

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there is still a tenant for the "Peery-Arrillaga" project in North San Jose--the largest new office project in San Jose in a very long time. The bad news is that the project is being cut down in half from 2 million to 1 million SQFT (974,000 SQFT of office and 24,000 SQFT of space for an activity center).

The project was first proposed two years ago with a secret tenant and received city approval last year. The massive office complex will still have the same curved glass-wall design, but the buildings will be much shorter. Instead of rising eight stories, most buildings will only be four stories and the parking will be in three giant structures along 101 as opposed to being underground. It is still an epic amount of premium office space that will bring thousands of new jobs (and tax dollars) to San Jose.

The developer is expected to pull building permits by the end of this year, with tenant occupancy in 2017. If this moves forward, it also means that Bay 101 will need to be moved--likely across the street to the San Jose Airport Garden Hotel property.

Source: SVBJ

The Silicon Valley Sign Project

I'm really excited to hear about a grassroots campaign to give Silicon Valley a new landmark. It's called The Silicon Valley Sign Project, and is being championed by Hafid Alfonso who helped build a walking tour company based in San Jose.

Here is the premise:

What if Silicon Valley had a distinguished landmark? What if we placed it somewhere everyone could see it and be reminded of the wonderful valley we live in? What if Silicon Valley thought even bigger? How would someone start such a project?

The draft proposal--which you can find here (PDF)--envisions a sign that is 200 feet wide with each letter standing 45 feet tall. LED bulbs would be use to illuminate the sign at night, potentially in a variety of colors as you can see in some of the renderings below. The sign would be visible throughout most of Silicon Valley, and help provide a sense of place for residents and visitors alike. So what do you guys think about this concept?

For all of the details and to show your support, please head over to The Silicon Valley Sign Project webpage.

Draft Rendering

Aerial View

Rendering view from Milpitas on Highway 880
 

Rendering view from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara

Sign lit up at night in San Jose Sharks Teal

Sign lit up at night in San Jose Earthquakes Blue

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