Newly Updated Downtown San Jose Development Map!

Our good friend Mark from Think Bigger San Jose has done something awesome. He's gone and updated a map with all known development projects in Downtown San Jose, both those under construction and proposed. He has even aggregated the total number of residential, hotel, office, and retail units that will come online over the next few years. If all currently proposed projects come to fruition, Downtown San Jose will get another 7,062 residential units, 328 hotel rooms, almost 2 million SQFT of office space, 348k SQFT of Retail, and two new public parks/plazas.

Here is the link to the new Downtown San Jose Development Map! I have also replaced the link on the right in the "San Jose Development" section with the new map for easy access.

The Stunning Gateway Tower is Getting Closer to Reality!

New renderings have been released for the proposed Gateway Tower in SoFA (between Market Street and First Street in Downtown San Jose). If this gets built, I think it will be the most architecturally-bold building in the San Jose skyline. While you can't see it in the renders, this project would also integrate the facades of two historic buildings into the ground floor--combining old and new in a way not common in San Jose.

The latest version of the proposal now has 292 units across 24 floors (up from 280 units). Another nice change is boosting the ceiling height of the retail component from 15 feet to 20 feet, making it really stand out. There will be between 4,000 and 6,000 SQFT of retail in the project. 20 feet should also be tall enough for a partial second floor if desired by the retailer.

If all goes well, this could break ground in less than a year. The developer wants to get started by Q3 2016.

Source: SVBJ

Drone Video of Communications Hill

Below is a five minute video taken using a drone flying around Communications Hill in South San Jose. It captured "the stairs" from a new perspective along with showing off the great views of San Jose from the hill.

Hard Steel MMA Fight in Willow Glen

Willow Glen would probably be the last place I'd expect to find a mixed martial arts tournament, but that is exactly what is going down tonight. About two dozen fighters will be competing in the Hard Steel Amateur Fight Series. The event is located at the Willow Glen Lounge (444 W. Alma Ave.) and doors open at 5pm. Tickets range from $35 for general admission to $70 front-row seats. For more details, please head over here.

Scott's Seafood Downtown Resident Mixer

On October 15th, Scott's Seafood is hosting a Downtown San Jose resident mixer out on their slick rooftop patio. The event is actually open to anyone that enjoys hanging out Downtown, not just residents. Scott's will be providing complimentary food off their late-night menu and a free cocktail if you RSVP. The event will run from 9pm to midnight and I'm sure will be a blast.

To RSVP (it's free), click here.

Apple Buys More Land in North San Jose!

It looks like Apple is planning something huge in North San Jose. Last week they purchased another 27 acres in North San Jose off of Carcot Avenue. This is a high visibility site fronting Highway 101 (imagine the signage possibilities).

Apple paid Ellis Partners $166 million for the land, which includes a 290,000 SQFT building that Apple was previously going to lease. The deal also gives Apple 12 acres of land approved for 650,000 SQFT of additional R&D and/or office space. This will give Apple a grand total of 70 acres in North San Jose.

Without moving a single employee to San Jose, the city already is already getting a nice payout. The city will collect over $1 million in transfer tax from the sale of the property.

In typical Apple fashion, they are being very secretive on what their true intentions are for the land. My guess is that they are going to use the space to develop "Project Titan," their electric car rumored for release in 2019. They allegedly already have 800 employees working on the car, and plan to triple that to over 2,000 employees immediately. North San Jose property would be the absolute best location for Apple to develop an electric car. Here is why:

• Millions of square feet of develop-able space that could be built to meet Apple's unique requirements. Cupertino is out of land and is more difficult to work with than San Jose when it comes to new development.
• Access to the best engineering talent in the world. The Golden Triangle is still the largest tech cluster anywhere, and you are not going to find better hardware engineers elsewhere.
• Santa Clara County is becoming a Mecca for automotive innovation. You have Tesla and innovation centers for just about every car manufacturer in the immediate area. Let's also not forget NextEV is opening an R&D outpost in the neighborhood. Most of the talent required to build next-generation vehicles is already here.
• Easy access to the San Jose International Airport.
• Easy access to Light Rail and eventually BART.
• Easy access to Highway 101 and Highway 87.
• More central location than Cupertino with more housing options and urban amenities.

Tesla now has 12,000 employees. If Apple chooses to centralize "Project Titan" in San Jose, they will need every square foot of the land they just purchased. I can't wait to see how this develops!

Source: SVBJ

Samsung's New San Jose Headquarters is Complete!

Last week Samsung officially unveiled their new 1.1 million SQFT North American Headquarters in San Jose. The ten story main building (technically two connected towers) is state-of-the-art. Each floor is no more than one staircase away from expansive outdoor gardens, the floor plates are huge, ceilings are high on every floor, and the campus has every amenity you can think of (yes, that is a putting green in the sky photographed below). 700 employees have already moved in, but the building will accommodate up to 2,000 workers.

Check out some of the best photos I have found of the new campus below.

Source: CNET

Curry Up Now and Mortar & Pestle Now Open in North San Jose!

Finally, San Jose has gotten a Curry Up Now brick & mortar restaurant! Curry Up Now has been one of my favorite food trucks for years and I was elated when they built their first restaurant near my work in San Mateo. They went on to open two additional restaurants in San Francisco and Palo Alto, but have saved the best for San Jose.

Ideally situated in the Golden Triangle, San Jose's Curry Up Now is the largest with 160 seats. Of course it offers all of their favorites such as their famous Tikka Masala Burritos, Sexy Fries, Deconstructed Samosas, and Naughty Naan--however, there will be some new items exclusive to San Jose. The San Jose location will be the only one to offer Brunch, and they created an assortment of specialties for the occasion like the Bird's Nest Samosa (photo below) and Indian-style crepes.

It gets better. The San Jose location also has a Mortar & Pestle, their Indian-themed craft cocktail bar. The only other one that exists is in San Mateo, and it's my favorite bar on the Peninsula. The drinks are designed to be paired with spicy Indian dishes and have unique flavors I have not had at any other bar before. The drinks are outstanding and are worth a trip in and of themselves.

Curry up Now is located at 3250 Zanker Road, near Patxi's and Wahoo's. The restaurant is open 11am-10pm Monday through Thursday, 11am-11pm on Friday, 9am to 11pm on Saturday, and 9am-9pm on Sunday.

Source: Eat - Drink - Play