December 2015 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• The St. James Park Management District is going to provide new funding for additional security, maintenance, and programming at St. James Park. Potential improvements include adding a cafe, dog run, or music venue.
• Downtown Ice is open at the Circle of Palms through February 7th. Hours are 11am until midnight on most days. Across the street is Christmas in the Park and Winter Wonderland.
• Jade Leaf Eatery is now open at 170 S. Market Street, specializing in Japanese noodles. It also has a stage large enough to accommodate bands and Jazz concerts.
• Deluxe is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 71 E. San Fernando.
• Sushi Confidential is coming soon to 31 N. Market, Social Policy (same owners at B2 Coffee) is coming to the former Blackbird Tavern Space, and Pieology is coming to the former Fahrenheit space.
• Petzi is the latest startup to set up shop Downtown. They make a smart camera and treat dispenser for pets.
• Corterie has remodeled a 5,000 SQFT space behind Whole Foods into an urban wine cellar and tasting room.
• SiliconSage Builders broke ground last month on a 100-unit condo project at 180 Balbach Street in SoFA, replacing an old used-car lot.
• A new 140-foot-long mural has been finished in Fountain Alley on the side of the Lido Nightclub.
• DASH ridership has had its strongest ridership month in seven years (this is the free shuttle that circles Downtown and Diridon station).

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Knight Foundation Donating Over $1 Million to San Jose Projects!

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has decided to donate over $1,000,000 to projects that will benefit San Jose. The top priorities were projects that will help with branding and identity, transforming public spaces, and helping the next generation of emerging leaders.

A total of 15 projects were funded. Some are quite interesting such as a new prototyping festival along Paseo de San Antonio, a pop-up park at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, and a new food and community hub at the Taylor Street urban farm. Below is the full list of projects.

Grant Recipients

• California Walks ($30,000): Encouraging deeper resident attachment to San Jose by launching San Jose Walks, a program that encourages urban exploration and celebrates neighborhoods through walking.
• City of San Jose, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services ($150,000): Helping to improve public spaces in San Jose through a "Parks Activation and Prototyping Fund" that will allow people to experiment with new ways to use parks.
• City of San Jose, Office of Economic Development ($125,000): Launching a branding and marketing campaign to attract talented workers, create jobs and bring new opportunities to the city.
• Exhibition District ($20,000): Creating a more vibrant and connected San Jose by expanding the Exhibition District, a public art project.
• Garden to Table ($60,000): Creating a food and community hub at Taylor Street Farm that will include events, workshops and market days, while supporting local food producers and suppliers.
• Groundswell Design ($75,000): Creating a pop-up park at Plaza Cesar Chavez that aims to transform an underused space into a vibrant and engaging public area.
• Local Label ($48,958): Launching a citywide competition to create and promote new branding opportunities for San Jose developed by teams of local artisans and makers.
• National Arts Strategies ($30,000): Supporting a group of San Jose Creative Community Fellows through a nine-month fellowship program focused on creative placemaking.
• Opportunity Fund ($75,000): Helping Downtown San Jose's small businesses (particularly restaurants and retail) comply with EMV chip requirements, a standard for credit card and debit card payments, through a merchant equipment subsidy program.
• San Jose State University ($240,000): Developing a more vibrant and connected San Jose with the launch of a prototyping festival along Paseo de San Antonio, a series of Ed talks, an artists-in-residence program and new activities at the Hammer Theatre.
• School at Mexican Heritage Plaza ($10,800): Connecting people and increasing civic participation by launching ImagineSJ, a monthly event and panel discussion focusing on San Jose's arts and cultural scene.
• Silicon Valley DeBug/NEEBA ($30,000): Creating a "We are San Jose" video series to share the dynamic and diverse neighborhoods and communities of San Jose.
• Sustainable Agriculture Education ($35,000): Supporting research, analysis and reporting focused on developing ways to connect and grow the city's food ecosystem.
• Somos Mayfair ($21,280): Helping people get more involved in shaping their community through Mayfair Community Mini-Grants that will invite local Mayfair residents to develop innovative ideas to make their community better while introducing them to local decision-making and budgeting.
• Transform ($100,000): Supporting more affordable and transportation-friendly housing by creating tools and traffic reduction strategies as part of GreenTRIP, a green building certification program for new residential, mixed-use development.

Source: The Merc

Google Signs Another North San Jose Lease!

Google is finally stepping up to the plate and joining Apple in acquiring commercial space in North San Jose. The company leased two buildings at the corner of North First Street and Trimble (2600 North First Street and 75 E. Trimble Road). This will give Google 174,000 SQFT, a rounding error compared to their Mountain View Campus.

This is actually their second San Jose lease. Google's first San Jose location was 40,000 SQFT at 2460 North First Street. That was just a dipping their toe in the water. Now they have both feet in and could potentially jump in for a swim. Google is going to need far more space than what Mountain View can provide. If San Jose proves to be a good partner for them, it will mean much larger investments in the future.

Keep in mind that Google is just one piece of parent company called Alphabet. There are many other great companies under that umbrella that could use offices located in the Golden Triangle with easy access to manufacturing facilities and semiconductor fabs (Nest, I'm looking at you).

Source: SVBJ

Apple Buys Another Building in North San Jose

It seems like Apple can't get enough of North San Jose this year. They have made yet another purchase, this time for a 70,000 SQFT former chip fab at 3725 N. First Street. It was previously used as a manufacturing facility for a semiconductor company called Maxim Integrated Products. What Apple will do with the space is anyone's guess. It seems too small to manufacture anything that Apple would put in their products, but could be used as a test lab. Perhaps Apple will tear it down to build a new facility. Either way, it is nice to see Apple continue to invest in our area.

The location is also notable. As you can see in the image below, the building could not be any closer to Samsung's shiny new North American Headquarters in San Jose. Talk about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

Source: SVBJ

Find the First National Bank Building

Do you know where the First National Bank Building is in Downtown San Jose? The building below was built in 1910 and still exists today, but looks completely different. To find out what the heck happened, head over to Think Bigger San Jose. We have several historic treasures hiding underneath fake facades unbeknownst to most San Joseans.

Warby Parker Opens in Santana Row Today

Warby Parker, a trendy eyewear store, is opening their 20th location in Santana Row. This will be their first location in Silicon Valley and the second location in Northern California (the only other being in San Francisco). They carry both prescription lenses and sunglasses and are known for reasonable pricing and their philanthropy efforts. For every pair sold, they donate a pair to someone in need around the world.

The Santana Row store opens today and the hours are 10am-9pm Monday through Saturday and 11am-6pm on Sundays. More details below.

San Jose's New "SmartPoles" are a Global First

San Jose has become the first city in the world to get Philips SmartPoles, which are perhaps the most technologically advanced street lights ever manufactured. Besides having energy-efficient LED lighting (made by San Jose-based Lumileds), they have two other distinct features. There is 4G LTE wireless infrastructure built right into the top of the pole, which is likely what gives it such a funky shape. On the bottom of the pole is a PG&E wireless energy meter, which previously required separate boxes on the street.

As a beta test, 50 of these will be manufactured and installed in Downtown San Jose and North San Jose. 14 have already been installed and the rest will be live by March 2016. These will add much needed capacity to cellular networks in San Jose. The best part is that the pilot program will cost nothing to the city. If everything works out, this technology will be deployed to other cities across the US.

I do wish they did not look like giant tampons, but hopefully that can be fixed in future design iterations.

Source: SVBJ

Permanent Light Show Under Highway 87 is Complete

One of the largest public art projects in Downtown San Jose has finally been completed. Many Downtown residents and visitors have been noticing the hundreds of blue circles underneath Highway 87 over the past couple months. The initial feedback when the project was in progress was a bit underwhelming; however, I'm pleased to say the that end result turned out quite well as you can see in The Merc's photos below.

This was all part of a $600,000 from ArtPlace America to illuminate Downtown San Jose and bring more art to public places. San Jose-based Philips Lumileds also donated the LEDs used in the installation.

"Sensing You" is the name of the project at Highway 87 and Santa Clara street. Every time someone walks or bikes through that underpass it will incite a reaction from the LED lights above. The more people that walk through it at the same time, the more dynamic the lights will become. There are up to 35 different "light reactions" that can be triggered.

A block away at Highway 87 and San Fernando there is another installation called "Sensing Water." Here you have paintings of water on both sides of the underpass and on the ceiling that is lit with blue LEDs.

I'm thrilled to see these projects go live. First off they are turning bland, uninviting, and sometimes even scary underpasses into interesting works of art. Second, they are helping build up a sense of artistic identity for San Jose. I have always felt that we should try to differentiate our artwork with projects that are digital, dynamic, and interactive. Those traits go hand-in-hand with the branding of Silicon Valley. The "Sensing You" is a great example of what we need more of in San Jose, and I hope it will inspire other projects not just in Downtown but throughout the city.

Source: The Merc

Highway 87 Underpass at Santa Clara Street

Highway 87 Underpass at San Fernando Street