Sourisseau News: St. James Park

Did you ever wonder about the origins of St. James Park? The two minute video below gives the best summary I have seen of the park's nearly 170 year history. It is almost impossible to believe today that St. James Park once looked like the image you see below. On the bright side, a substantial effort is underway to revitalize the park and turn it back into a valued asset for our city.

Anyway, watch the video below!


St James Park from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Downtown San Jose Restaurant List Updates! (2015 Q3 Edition)

I have finally caught up again with updates for the Downtown San Jose Restaurants database! We are up to a grand total of 254 eateries! This is yet another record-breaking number for Downtown San Jose! We were at 206 eateries in 2011.

As always there were some significant closures as well. The ones that stood out to me were Little Chef, Falafel Bar, and Azucar. The good news is that the caliber of the new places opening up more than makes up for the ones that closed. Here are some of the newcomers:

• Noodle Dude - This modern but unpretentious noodle house had some of the best Ramen I've had (Yelpers agree, 4.5 star rating). You order Ramen like you would a burrito at Chipotle--the noodles, ingredients, and broth are all independently selected by the customer, so you get exactly what you're in the mood for. They also have great service.
• Konjoe-Tei - New Ramen and Izakaya joint in the SoFA Market brought to you by the owners of Konjoe. I've heard great things, also 4.5 stars on Yelp.
• On the Flipside - New Burger bar in the SoFA Market.
• Gotta Eatta Pita - Yet another 4.5 star restaurant on Yelp. Very inexpensive yet delicious Mediterranean food.
• The Joint Eatery - Specializes in diverse comfort food, including Burgers, Sandwiches, and a variety of Appetizers. Oh yeah, also 4.5 stars on Yelp.

Below is the change log from the Downtown San Jose Restaurants Database:

1/10/2015	Grub Shack closed
1/24/2015	Icebee Replaced with My Milkshake at 151 S. 2nd Street
1/24/2015	Falafel Bar closed
1/24/2015	Azucar closed
1/25/2015	Pete's Coffee on Santa Clara Street closed
1/25/2015	La Pinata on San Pedro closed
5/2/2015	Added On The Flipside, Konjoe-Tei, Hawaiian Poke Bowl, Milk and Wood, and Vitamina Juices & Blends which are all part of the SoFA Market
5/2/2015	First to Market is now called The Craftsman
7/4/2015	Konjoe-Tei in the SoFA Market is now officially open
7/4/2015	Sama Zama in the SPSM was replaced with Pasta Fresca (same owners)
7/4/2015	Little Chef at the SPSM closed
7/4/2015	Gotta Eatta Pita has replaced Amir Restaurant at 86 N Market Street
7/4/2015	The Joint Eatery is now open at 93 E Santa Clara Street (used to be Grub Shack)

If you haven't bookmarked it yet, here's the link to the spreadsheet! There is also a permanent link over to the right entitled Downtown San Jose Restaurants.

Apple is Setting Up Shop in San Jose!!!

In what will likely be the most talked about San Jose commercial real-estate deal for months, Apple is leasing the 300,000 SQFT 101 Tech campus in North San Jose! This is a two-story building formerly used by Atmel that has huge 150,000 SQFT floor plates that tech companies seem to love these days. The property was substantially renovated with skylights, outdoor amenity space, and a new facade. Next door... 12 acres of land already approved for 665,000 SQFT of new office space. Perhaps Apple will snap that up as well.

It is still unclear which department Apple will choose to locate here. I'm going to speculate a new project, like Apple's future electric cars. The location is pretty close to Tesla and many of the companies that Tesla is sourcing components from (FYI, Tesla is looking at San Jose office space as well). What is clear, is that this will have a huge branding impact on San Jose. Could this be the deal that opens up the floodgates for even more tech companies to invest in San Jose?

Source: SVBJ

The Lincoln Law School Building Downtown is Going Residential

The office market has been slow to recover Downtown despite the explosion in residential (and soon retail) development. It looks like at least one property owner has grown tired of waiting for the market to fully rebound. There is a proposal on the table to transform the 82,000 SQFT building that houses the Lincoln Law School at 1 N. First Street into a residential project.

The dated, and dare I say ugly, facade would be transformed into something much more modern. The rendering below reminds me of The Pierce in SoFA. The project would result in 72 residential units across the five floors and 7,500 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. The fifth floor would be added on top of the existing building and there would even be some units tucked into the basement. Those underground units won't be as bad as they sound since an atrium will funnel natural light to them.

However, one big question mark is whether it is even worth remodeling the building on such a key corner, or would it make more sense to tear the whole thing down and build a high-rise project in its place. Many people would like to see a Class A office building here, especially with the proximity to the future Downtown San Jose BART station.

If the project does get approved by the city, construction will take less than a year. As for the Lincoln Law School, don't worry--it is already being relocated to another Downtown building at 384 S. Second Street.

Source: SVBJ, Hat tip to Drew S. for sending this in.

Summer in St. James Park

Every week there is an assortment of events happening in St. James Park. You have family-friendly concerts every Thursday at 6:30pm, music and spoken work performances every Tuesday at 6:30pm, and Yoga and Games at noon every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can access the most recent calendar of events at the San Jose Parks Foundation website. I'm happy to see so much effort going into activating this historic park.

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the Fourth Best Market for Real Estate Development

San Jose median rental price appreciation over the last year shot up 10.71%. Combined with a variety of other performance indicators such as job growth, days on market, and vacancy rates, this makes San Jose the fourth best market in the United States for real estate investment. First on the list is San Francisco, followed by Seattle and Denver. Portland rounds out the top five.

Source: All Property Management

Music in the Park: Salsa on July 17 and Los Lonely Boys August 28

SAN JOSE - Bring your dancing shoes to Music in the Park on July 17 when P’al Bailador and Julio Bravo y su Orquesta Salsabor, two of the area's top salsa bands, take the Plaza de Cesar Chavez stage. P’al Bailador, “The Dancer’s Salsa Band,” was a standout at the 2013 San Jose Jazz Summerfest. The 11-man Julio Bravo y su Orquestra Salsabor has earned the moniker, “The Bay Area’s Top Salsa Band,” by touring the Bay Area year-round, offering a range of energetic and dance-able salsa. This show also includes a guest appearance by Bloco del Sol, featuring 25-30 Brazilian drums and percussion players. Aug. 28: Los Lonely Boys, a trio of Grammy Award-winning brothers from Texas, will rock Plaza Park in this year’s Music in the park finale. They’ll play hits including “Heaven,” and songs off their 2014 release, “Revelation,” which offers elements of blues, conjunto, reggae, country, soul and acoustic musical genres. loslonelyboys.com Local favorite J.C. Smith Band, which has been voted “best blues band” in South Bay numerous times, opens the show. jcsmithband.com Concerts start at 5:15 p.m. at Plaza de Cesar Chavez.  

Advance $10 tickets are on sale at musicintheparksj.com. 

Tickets are $15 the day of the show.  

Children 12-under are free when accompanied by an adult. The concerts are produced by San Jose Downtown Association. Series sponsors include: Metro, City of San Jose, NBC, Telemundo, La Raza 93.3,KQED, El Observador, Yelp, KFOG 97.7 SJ/104.5 SF, KSJS 90.5, Content Magazine, Strike Brewing Company, Lagunitas Beer Company, J. Lohr Wines, Republic Services and Silicon Valley Bike Coalition.

Also at the event:

Kids fun in the southwest area of the park: 

• Enjoy urban art activities, live DJ and dance workshops at The FutureArtsNow! Activity Zone.  futureartsnow.org
• Interactive CHALK ZONE by Luna Chalk Arts Festival. lunaparkchalkart.org/about-us/

Food and drink:

• New this year –  Cocktail Lounge in the Park:  Tasty mixed drinks and lounge seating in a transformed space, courtesy Method42 Productions. method42.net
• Also new – Craft Beer offerings from local breweries, including Lagunitas Brewing Co. and Strike Brewing.
• Food on site from Angelou's Mexican Grill; Falafel Fresh; Pizza My Heart; Siam Loco Wraps; Asmara's Hotdogs and Kettle Korn; Snowzilla Shaved Ice and Fruit, and more. 
• J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines

Transportation:

• San Jose Bike Coalition, in cooperation with the City of San Jose, will provide free valet bike parking from 4:30 p.m.-9:45 p.m.
• To find the nearest parking options to Plaza de Cesar Chavez, go to sjdowntownparking.com

SJMADE Summer Series

SJMADE is a group of hyperlocal artisans, craftsmen, and entrepreneurs that get together throughout the year at a variety of events. They frequently have pop-ups in Downtown San Jose and Valley Fair. This summer, they will be at the brand new Whole Foods on the Alameda every single Saturday!

Most of the pop-up markets will run from 10am to 2pm, but there are some days that will have longer hours or a even a night market. For more details and to see the other events SJMADE will be participating in, head over here.